Xiaoxiao Song is an artist whose practice moves between observation, material sensitivity, and a quiet yet powerful exploration of human connection. Working across painting, drawing, and visual storytelling, her work reflects an attentiveness to subtle emotional landscapes, often capturing the tension between intimacy and distance, memory and presence.
Her compositions are guided by atmosphere as much as form, creating works that feel both deeply personal and universally resonant. Through considered use of colour, texture, and gesture, Song builds visual spaces that invite reflection rather than immediate resolution, allowing viewers to bring their own experiences into dialogue with the work.
Balancing technical precision with emotional openness, her practice explores how everyday moments, fleeting expressions, and personal histories can be transformed into something enduring. In this interview with The Flux Review, we speak with Celeste Song about her artistic journey, the ideas shaping her current work, and how she approaches the relationship between process, material, and meaning.
Are you self-taught, or did you undertake formal artistic training?
I had a foundation in gouache painting during my early art education. Later, I taught myself illustration during my undergraduate years. After completing my MA in Illustration at the University of Brighton, I returned to painting and began working with oil. Since then, my oil painting practice has largely been self-taught, developed step by step as I gradually discovered my own visual language.
How would you define your visual language or conceptual approach?
My work primarily focuses on animals and the human figure. The figures in my paintings often appear without visible faces, allowing emotion to emerge through body language and the atmosphere created by colour.
This approach is partly rooted in my perspective as someone with a fearful-avoidant attachment style, a subconscious expression of the shame surrounding a desire for intimacy. It reflects the tension between the fear of being seen through and the simultaneous longing to be understood. I use varied brushstrokes to create a sense of emotional flow, and rather than emphasizing anatomical precision, I focus more on the geometric composition formed by the body and its movement.
Can you describe your creative process from conception to completion?
Coming from an illustration background, I usually begin with a digital sketch to establish the overall atmosphere, composition, and color palette. I then move into painting with loose, expressive brushstrokes to block in large areas of colour and define tonal layers.
After that, the process becomes highly iterative. I continuously refine the work based on intuition, adding layers, adjusting boundaries, and enhancing depth and structure, while emphasizing compositional forms to increase the visual impact and emotional intensity of the piece.
Does narrative, symbolism, or storytelling play a role within your work?
My work often extends from memory and lived experience. As someone in my mid-twenties, it reflects an ongoing exploration of human connection. There is a strong element of self-projection, similar to many people of my generation, there is a simultaneous longing for intimacy and a reluctance or inability to express it openly. I aim to articulate this inner tension and emotional struggle through my work.
Which artists have most influenced you historically or contemporarily and why?
Francis Bacon initially sparked my interest in figurative painting, and his approach to composition and psychological tension continues to influence my work. Andrew Cranston has been a major source of inspiration in terms of colour. His work has influenced my tendency to use rich palettes and layered colour techniques.
What personal, cultural, or environmental influences shape your practice?
I think the atomised nature of contemporary society has profoundly shaped my generation. From my perspective as a young East Asian woman living in the West, I observe how people today are influenced by multiple cultural forces while navigating increasingly fragmented social structures.
There is a tendency to appear “cool” or nonchalant, which often leads to a fear of showing vulnerability or one’s authentic self. This fear isolates individuals, turning us into disconnected units, almost like a self-perpetuating cycle that pushes us further apart. Through my work, I hope to evoke resonance and reflection, encouraging people to confront their own desire for connection.
Where is your studio based, and how does the space inform your creativity?
As a recent graduate still exploring my career path as a young creative, my bedroom currently functions as my studio. This naturally leads me to work on small to medium-scale pieces. Perhaps one day, as my practice becomes more established, I will have a dedicated studio space of my own.
Do you have any rituals or rhythms that anchor your studio practice?
I often go to the nearby garden and sit on the grass to sketch. Observing the interactions of people around me frequently brings unexpected inspiration, some of which later develops into full oil paintings.
What bodies of work or projects are you currently developing?
Recently, I’ve been focusing on the internal experiences shaped by my identity as a woman. I’ve been reflecting on how women are often categorized into certain roles or images by societal expectations, and how we are, consciously or unconsciously, influenced by these frameworks.
My current work explores inner awareness, questioning the self repeatedly in order to access more authentic inner voices. It focuses on the relationship between the constructed self, the instinctual self, and a higher sense of self.
Where can collectors encounter or acquire your work?
Collectors can reach out to me via email or follow my Instagram, where I share updates on exhibitions I participate in. Occasionally, works are also made available for sale through these channels.
