What makes Shixun Chen’s Art a Perfect Balance of Logic and Emotion

Shixun Chen is a designer and artist known for blending creativity with function, especially in her 3D art, ceramics, and product designs. In this interview, Shixun talks about how her background in industrial design and her love for animals—especially her cat—inspire her work. She shares how she balances the practical side of design with emotional expression, handles creative blocks without pressure, and practices experimentation as part of the creative process

Shixun Chen is a T-shaped cross-disciplinary designer and artist blending 3D art, media design, ceramics, and product design. Inspired by her love for animals, her creations, featuring rabbits and cats, bring comfort and celebrate life’s little joys. With degrees from Tsinghua University and ArtCenter College of Design, Shixun’s work reflects functionalism and minimalism. Her award-winning designs, recognized by iF, Muse, UX Design Awards, and IDA, have been exhibited across China, the U.S., the UK, and France.

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I’ve been working in the robotics industry for almost 5 years. I’ve been working on elderly care projects, food automation systems, and center kitchen solutions, which are more forward-looking design projects. In this engineering driven industry, designers spend more time on the service system and ergonomics and adopt minimal design to emphasize the function and reliability, to speed up the RD process and release to the market earlier to gain more impact. I’m a senior industrial designer trying to bring cool concepts to real products in customers’ hands.

It’s a very traditional role – I would conduct the market research, draft the product requirements, do the 2D ideation, collaborate with the team to do the 3D model and renderings, and produce documents and CMF. Everything is teamwork, and there are many sprints and small releases. In a fast-paced and compact team, I can explore beyond the ID roles, such as 3D animation, UIUX design, HTML, and data visualization, which aligns with my interests. I also love learning new things. Creating is my daily job. But a designer has no ego because a good design is to the original goal – gain more profit, reduce cost, etc… As a result, some bad-looking products can be good designs. On the contrary, an artist is all about expressing oneself without any restrictions, really cool!

Flow state is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the activity process – I’ve been in the flow state when creating things long before I knew this word.

Shixun Chen

2. What inspired you to become an artist?

Everyone is born an artist because we have the passion to express ourselves. I create my pieces because I want to create value and like beautiful human-made things. I would brand myself a designer and artist – where the designer thinks rationally and builds profitable products based on data analysis. In contrast, the artist expresses emotions by freely creating lovely and inspiring pieces. When I see an attractive digital or physical advertisement, my first reaction is not to buy the product but to build it and improve it in different ways. Becoming an artist is not a choice but a natural process – I’m naturally in the flow state when I’m making something for a specific purpose, whether there’s a client or I’m making it for myself. Flow state is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the activity process – I’ve been in the flow state when creating things long before I knew this word.

3. Can you tell us about a particular piece of art that holds special meaning for you?

Welcome to see my cat! It’s the image of My Munchkin Cat And His Robot Twin I attached below.

This 3D model is based on my first pet, a munchkin cat I brought home when I got my first job—marking a moment when I could finally care for a pet on my own. Throughout the COVID period, his companionship became a source of comfort and emotional support, making our bond incredibly precious. When creating the 3D model, I asked myself: How can I make this even cuter? I wanted to capture his essence while adding a playful, imaginative twist.

My artistic process is deeply rooted in tangible objects rather than abstract patterns. After a long day, people like me can be too exhausted to process abstract ideas, but we can feel instinctively. A specific object can serve as an immediate emotional signifier. I’m passionate about the concept of healing through art—creating an emotional landscape that helps transform daily pressures, anxieties, and negativity into something uplifting. What’s more, if my work can spark imagination and encourage people to see the world with more love and curiosity, then I consider it a success.

4. How do you handle creative blocks or periods of low inspiration?

I don’t think creative blocks always need to be handled—sometimes, the best thing we can do is stop pushing ourselves so hard in pursuit of conventional success. I’ve experienced anxiety, frustration, and self-doubt about not being capable enough. In an effort to break through, I’ve tried everything—sports, travel, meeting new people, picking up new hobbies, meditation, and reading deep, philosophical books. While these activities can add richness to life, they don’t necessarily help me create. I’ve also experimented with shifting perspectives, like listing what I don’t want instead of what I do. But ultimately, the core of creation is self-expression.

You’ll feel lost if you don’t feel the urge to express anything. And that’s okay. Instead of forcing inspiration, I believe in simple living—eating well, relaxing, and embracing all aspects of yourself, even when you’re not feeling like an “artist.” If I have to build something, I can approach it as a project—using a designer’s mindset to set requirements, timelines, and milestones. That keeps me productive, but it makes me wonder: is a truly inspired piece of art worth creating under self-imposed pressure? Many great works are born from struggle, but I also believe life should allow for moments of ease. How is that different from just working a job if we’re constantly competing and exhausting ourselves? Sometimes, it’s okay to slow down.

I’m passionate about the concept of healing through art—creating an emotional landscape that helps transform daily pressures, anxieties, and negativity into something uplifting.

Shixun Chen

5. What role does experimentation play in your art practice?

Experimentation is at the core of my artistic process. As a professional designer, I’m deeply familiar with iteration—the beauty of refining something step by step and watching it evolve. Sometimes, the outcome aligns more closely with the vision in my head; other times; unexpected surprises emerge—good and bad. I’ve created countless cat cups, and it’s not just about improving my technical skills to make them look more lifelike. The failures along the way—like a cat pottery piece with a burnt face—also hold their own unique identity. Every experiment, even the so-called mistakes, adds to the creative journey. I welcome the final perfect piece but also embrace the test pieces that lead me there.

Shixun Chen’s work shows how art can be both beautiful and meaningful. By blending her design skills with personal experiences, she creates functional pieces that are full of heart. Her story reminds us that creativity comes from both success and failure and that art is about expressing yourself and connecting with others. To learn more about Shixun, visit the links below.