Born in 1977 in China’s Jiangsu Province, Lu Xinjian began weaving himself into the art world through the outlet of design, earning a degree from the Computer Graphic Design Department of Nanjing Arts Institute in China in 2000, and holding a teaching position at the College of Arts and Design at Yeungnam University in South Korea before conducting postgraduate work at the Design Academy Eindhoven and receiving an MFA from the Frank Mohr Institute at Hanze University in the Netherlands in 2006. The morph in Lu’s aesthetic came after choosing to leave his home in China to live abroad, where his artistic experimentation began, while his vigorous study of artists such as Mondrian, Picasso, Pollock and Haring lead him to discover new techniques, visual solutions and enlivened inspiration. After completing his MFA in Groningen, he remained there under the mentorship of Petri Leijdekkers, founder of the Frank Mohr Institute, and became captivated with the satellite technology of Google Earth. Using choice cities from Google Earth, a cutting plotter, felt tip pens and acrylic paint, Lu seamlessly combines his mastery of design with his artistic vision. Lu shares his conception of a city as a twofold experience: the collision of the macro, far removed aspect one can achieve from an elevated perspective, with the micro, minute details of areas that one could tease out upon close inspection.
