Xingyu Tu is a Chinese-Australian artist based in Sydney, working primarily with ballpoint pen. Born in China, she started drawing and writing during the COVID-19 lockdown. Living with a hand disability that makes straight lines impossible and turns every stroke...
Read MoreXingyu Tu is a Chinese-Australian artist based in Sydney, working primarily with ballpoint pen. Born in China, she started drawing and writing during the COVID-19 lockdown. Living with a hand disability that makes straight lines impossible and turns every stroke into pain, Tu transforms physical limitation into a bold, unapologetic visual language of imperfection and raw gesture.In her series I Am Not a Vase, she delivers sharp satire on sex workers and strippers. Works like I Am Not a Vase, I Am Gambling expose the harsh reality of “youth as capital” — quick money with no future — and urge women: don’t put all eggs in one basket, learn skills like businessmen do. Deeply inspired by the book No Fashion Jam, whose utterly ordinary and good-for-nothing heroine stubbornly dreams of marrying a prince despite having no beauty, no talent, no money, and no health, Tu channels this bold, “overreaching” ambition into her art. She is also developing the Dancer project — clothing and performance designs for blind dancers — asking: “If your disadvantage can make money, is it still a disadvantage?” She holds a pending Australian patent (AU 2026901562) for a joyful lottery-style entertainment concept.Largely self-taught, Tu sees her participation in competitions as performance art. On her X platform @leftrightfish
, she advocates for vulnerable groups to gain financial independence and visibility. For her, art is a weapon: selling ideas, protecting patents, and creating real opportunities for those who society often overlooks.
