Bio
Daisy Ye is a Chinese Canadian artist based in London. She earned her MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in the UK and her BFA in Textiles at Alberta University of the Arts (formerly ACAD). To advance her career in the UK, she currently participates in the Turps Studio Program, an artist-run community.
Daisy’s art blends semi-abstract landscape painting with ecological awareness. Through art, she is developing a conscious understanding of sustainability and resilience. She investigates how invisible environmental forces affect natural materials and how a human-centred mentality contributes to environmental issues. By incorporating textile practice into her painting, she experiments with plant dyes, ground pigments, and threads to construct her perception of a place.
The international experience greatly influences Daisy’s art. Her cross-cultural studies in Japan, Mexico, and the UK have provided her with a broader perspective on the ancient philosophy of the human-environment relationship. She aims to foster a cultural dialogue between the East and the West. This perspective is evident in her research on natural materials, archetypes, and places, all reflecting the concept of cyclical time and her perception of a place.
During her time at the RCA, she participated in several exhibitions, showing her experiments with plant pigments in painting and weaving. Currently, she has been invited as a guest speaker to the RCA temporal material seminar to share her research on plant dyes using traditional Japanese methods.

Artist statement
My work delves into the liminal space between my imagination and the subject matter, unpacking my interior landscape through an ecological lens in the contemporary context. This space, between the mutational entanglement of human-non-human relations, allows me to unveil the enigmatic and eerie feeling in my work. Living in the era of the Anthropocene, I am deeply committed to fostering my conscious awareness of the sustainable and resilience towards a place in nature, in which I am constantly immersed.
My work is a deeply personal journey, a tapestry of emotional and sensory experiences that reveal my innermost being and the memories underpinned in the material process. It delves into the Anthropocene phenomenon and the biomorphic world of ‘thing’, confronting the profound sense of loss that comes with it. It’s an attempt to adapt to the full cycle of biological life, understanding the meaning of dormancy, germination, growth and decay. My creative process, which begins with site investigation and walking as a ritual, unpacks a sense of absence through material exploration and intuitive painting.
During the process, I incorporate research-making methods such as life drawings and mark-making, hand weaving, and biomaterial study. I am passionate about seeking organic mind sources and living materials that resonate with life. Through my research in Epping Forest, I aim to not only engage the audience but also to empower them with a conscious appreciation of the concept of cyclical time and environmental suitability. It is a constant reminder of the artist’s crucial role and encourages the audience to take an active responsibility for our ecosystem.
Education
2024-25 — TURPS Studio Program
2023-24 — MA Painting, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2022 — Graduate Diploma Program, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2016-21 — BFA Fiber (with distinction), Alberta University of the Arts (AUARTS), Calgary, Canada
2018 — Summer School Student, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London, UK
2016-25 — Mentee with Studio Vazquez-Mackay
Selected Exhibitions
Oct 2024 — The Holy Art Gallery, London, UK
2024- 25 — GATEHOUSE CHAMBERS ART PROJECT, London, UK
Jun 2024 — The RCA Painting Graduation Show, London, UK
May 2024 — Material Voices at ST ART Gallery, London, UK
May 2024 — Co-creating with Nature Exhibition at the RCA, London, UK
Mar 2024 — International MAW Exhibition at the RCA, London, UK
Feb 2024 — Things That Matter AMP Gallery, London, UK
May 2022 — AUARTS Online Graduation Show, Calgary, Canada
Apr 2022 — Solo Exhibition in Studio Vazquez-Mackay, Calgary, Canada
Nov 2019 — Group Show THINGS TO WEAR in Illingworth Kerr Gallery with weaving demonstration, Calgary, Canada
Oct 2019 — Solo Exhibition in Poly+Esther Wall in Fiber Department of AUARTS, Calgary, Canada
Oct 2018 — Solo Exhibition in Poly+Esther Wall in Fiber Department of AUARTS, Calgary, Canada
2018 — Solo Exhibition in National Gallery of Contemporary Fiber Art in Fiber Department of ACAD, Calgary, Canada
2017-18 — The 8th Annual President’s Student Exhibition in ACAD, Calgary, Canada
2016-17 — The 7th Annual President’s Student Exhibition in ACAD, Calgary, Canada
2017 — Group Exhibition in Fibre Fortnight organized by Fiber Department of ACAD, Calgary, Canada
Awards
May 2022 — AUARTS Graduation with Distinction Award, Calgary, Canada
May 2021 — The President’s Convocation Shawl Competition Award
Mar 2019 — FIBRE MAJOR INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT AWARD, Calgary,
Canada
2017 — ACAD BOARD OF GOVERNER’S FIRST YEAR SCHOLARSHIP, Calgary, Canada
Nominations & Positions Held
2023-24 — Student Representative of MA Painting at the RCA, London, UK
Apr 2022 — Nominatee for the BMO 1st Art 2022 Contest, Canada
Residency
Mar 2023 — Studio Vazquez-Mackay, Mexico City, Mexico
Selected Press
Lengle, S., & Ye, J. (2023). Lotus Flower Kosode (2019). Journal of Integrated Studies, 14(1). Retrieved from https://jis.athabascau.ca/index.php/jis/article/view/421
Curatorial Projects, Workshops & Talks
Jan 2025 — Guest Speaker on Temporal Materials at the RCA, London, UK