instagram: @huiyin.zhou
Short Bio
Born and raised in the industrial hub of Dongguan, China, huiyin zhou 徽音 (they/ta/她) is a transnational queer feminist organizer and community-based photographer, writer, multimedia artist and cultural producer. A diasporic bird constantly up- and re-rooting themselves, they are currently based in Durham, NC, and NYC. They work with digital and analog photography, text, installation, and performance with a relational, reciprocal praxis. Creating with intimate and tender sensibilities, huiyin explores themes related to queer feminism, intimacy, memory, diaspora, and community building. They are currently a studio artist at Queen Street Magic Boat, a surrealist artist-led space. huiyin co-founded and co-directs Chinese Artists and Organizers (CAO) Collective离离草.
Artist Statement/Statement of Practice (Updated 11/18/2025)
I am a photographer, writer, and cultural organizer hailing from the industrial hub of Dongguan, China, currently based in Durham, NC. A child of migrants in a Cantonese speaking region, my creative practice was seeded alongside migrant worker poets who use their art to witness the nuances of migration, globalization, and home-making. My experiences living and languaging in borderlands and marginalized spaces shaped my strong interests in diasporic memory, queer kinship, care infrastructures, and relational building. My cross-disciplinary work weaves photography, writing, calligraphy, performance, installation, and community organizing.
With backgrounds in Cultural Anthropology, ethnic studies, and organizing, my creative practice is community-oriented. In 2022, I co-founded and currently co-direct the Chinese Artists and Organizers (CAO) Collective离离草. We are a queer feminist transnational group focused on social practice art and produces community-engaged programming. For studio practice, I am co-conspirating at Queen Street Magic Boat, a surrealist artist-led cultural hub in downtown Durham. I also work as a freelance curator, facilitator, and photographer with organizations such as The Seventh Wave, NorthStar Church of the Arts and WUNC Public Radio.
In my photography, I am particularly interested in text-image relationships. I often incorporate handwriting, collage, poetry, and other forms to construct layers of meanings and portals. Photography, for me, is a tender form of mutual witnessing and intimate relationship building. I hope to use my art as a vessel, reimagining embodied pathways to healing and transformation.
My bilingual writing has been living and expanding in my journals, scrambled google docs, and conversations with my friends and family. I am writing from a place of protection and honoring the privacy my heart desires. You can also find published work at positions: asia critique, The Seventh Wave, Scholar & Feminist Online, The Common, Tupelo Quarterly, Apogee, Irrelevant Press, Massachusetts Review, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Sine Theta Magazine, and unCoVer Initiative. Occasionally, I share on my substack and newsletter. My current focus is on a photo-writing book project From South to South 从南方到南方.
As part of my public facing praxis, I’ve been invited to speak, perform, or teach at cultural and academic institutions, such as Squeaky Wheel, Artspace, Feminist Center for Creative Work, Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies, Claremont Colleges, UC Irvine, AWID Global Feminist Forum, alpha nova & galerie future, and more. My work has been supported by grants and awards from New York Foundation of Art, Snapdragon Fund, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, SEEK Raleigh, New Breath Foundation, and more. I’ve also received fellowships and residencies at BRIClab: Contemporary Art, Culture Push, The Seventh Wave, Pedantic Arts, The Luminary, and Durham Art Guild.
headshots
with creatiPhoto x @sasss.world, Raleigh NC
Photo x @sasss.world
photo by Danny Peña @pen_yah, Durham Art Guild, Durham, NC
photo by Laura Dudu, Sept 2024, Brooklyn NYC
with creative partner Laura Dudu, photo by Cynthia Liu, Sept 2024, NYC
with creative partner Laura Dudu, photo by Toby Tenenbaum, BRIC House Gallery
photo by Toby Tenenbaum, April 2024, BRICLab Contemporary Art studio