Fanglin Luo is a London-based early-career artist聽and curator whose interdisciplinary practice moves between performance, painting and photography. Her work has a foundation in both art theory and fashion design, weaving together visual and conceptual languages to examine identity, feminism and the complexities of transcultural memory. Luo鈥檚 works have been exhibited internationally, from the UK and France to the USA and Japan. In 2025, she presented at the London Design Festival and won the Silver Award at the Light From The Other Shore: 2025 New York International Art Competition.
One of Luo鈥檚 earlier works is video piece聽ME & GODDNESS & ME,聽inspired by the artist鈥檚 experience walking alone at night in London. In it, Luo turns into mythological goddesses, namely Aphrodite, often seen as a softened echo of the powerful Inanna, goddess of war and desire. Through ritual and embodiment, the artist traces Aphrodite鈥檚 transformation from passive beauty to awakened force. The artist says: 鈥渢his is reclaiming 鈥 a celebration of the courage girls are taught to forget. The goddess becomes a vessel for female will, defying the roles we were scripted to play.鈥 Luo expanded on the performance with聽ME & GODDESS & ME 鈥 NVWA PROJECT, focusing on Nvwa (or 狈眉飞补), a character in Chinese mythology. She moves away from Nvwa as the 鈥渕other鈥 who created humanity and mended the broken sky, focusing on early accounts that reveal her as a human-headed, serpent-bodied empress who held power and resources. Through bodily rituals 鈥 such as praying for rain and interacting with water 鈥 the artist traces a shift from self-sacrificing maternal figure to an awakened serpent force connected to natural instincts.
Luo鈥檚 curatorial project,聽New Spring: Lines,聽which was on display at Safehouse2, London at the start of 2026, takes this focus on tradition in a new direction. The exhibition invited audiences from diverse communities to engage with memories of Northeast Asia. Visitors were encouraged to push beyond linear history and geographical region, considering shared human experiences that transcend fixed locations. In a contemporary context where migration, transformation and shifting boundaries have become the norm, the show provided a space where guests could fully explore memory and emotion. The display had a fascinating approach to time, drawing from cultures that do not rely on linear concepts of progress. Luo says: 鈥淭ime has long been one of the most enduring and complex questions in human thought. Linear time, as a practical tool, has been widely adopted to structure history and propel the development of civilisation. Yet time as a narrative is not necessarily linear. In many traditional cultures, cyclical and recurring temporal structures 鈥 such as the changing of seasons 鈥 have long shaped how time is understood.鈥澛
Right across Luo鈥檚 artwork and curation, there鈥檚 a strong vision. Her experimental performances get to the heart of the human condition, asking what it means to exist in a modern society that is increasingly globalised and connected, and yet continues to feel polarised. She reworks myth and memory through a contemporary lens, creating space for alternative perspectives to emerge. As her practice grows, Luo is part of a generation of artists redefining how we engage with the past in an interconnected world.
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Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
All images courtesy Fanglin Luo.
