Biography
Mi (Misha) Lin is a London-based cross-disciplinary artist and PhD researcher at the School of Design, Royal College of Art. Her practice-led research reimagines embodied engagement with Miao embroidery, a textile intangible cultural heritage from southwest China, through immersive technology, a generative system and interactive experience. Working across textile thinking, digital art, AI-assisted visual systems, projection, gesture tracking and sound, she explores how cultural memory and living traditions can be activated through spatial experiences of participation, perception and transmission.
Her ongoing research series, Generative Unravelling, has received international recognition across press, awards, exhibitions and institutional platforms, a lead feature in the Overseas Chinese section of People’s Daily Overseas Edition, a full-page feature in Aesthetica Magazine, Silver Winner at the International Design Awards 2025, Winner at the Creative Communication Award 2025, and a shortlist for the V&A × Design Society Design Values Award 2025. The series has been presented internationally at London Craft Week 2025, the IEEE ICME AIART Gallery 2025 in Nantes, France, the RCA AI Festival 2026 and the Shanghai Art Museum in 2026.
Alongside her artistic practice, Lin has contributed to curatorial, educational and cross-cultural projects across China, the United States and the United Kingdom. She co-curated the Tsinghua Alumni London Art Exhibition, Ubiquitous Technology: The Science of Aesthetics, where she also exhibited her work and led the associated art salon, The Symbiosis of Cultural Heritage and Technology. She has been invited to deliver lectures, join panels and participate in public discussions at institutions including the Royal College of Art and University of the Arts London.
Lin holds a BA in Fashion Design from Tsinghua University, where she received the Excellent Graduation Design Award and the Excellent Graduation Thesis Award, and an MPS in Arts and Cultural Management from Pratt Institute, New York. Her professional experience spans artistic research, project curation, fashion and textile design, business development and cross-cultural creative industries.
Explore Further
→ Highlights
Selected projects, exhibitions, design works and cross-disciplinary experiences.
Selected projects, exhibitions, design works and cross-disciplinary experiences.
→ Generative Unravelling Series
A practice-led doctoral research series reimagining Miao Piling Embroidery through generative art, textile thinking, embodied interaction and immersive spatial experience.
A practice-led doctoral research series reimagining Miao Piling Embroidery through generative art, textile thinking, embodied interaction and immersive spatial experience.
→ Visibility & Recognition of Generative Unravelling
Awards, exhibitions, press features, institutional recognition and public presentations related to the series.
Awards, exhibitions, press features, institutional recognition and public presentations related to the series.
→ Contact Mi
For exhibitions, talks, collaborations and research enquiries.
For exhibitions, talks, collaborations and research enquiries.
Selected CV
Current Research Series — Generative Unravelling
Generative Unravelling Series is a practice-led research series that reimagines Miao Piling Embroidery through generative art, textile thinking, embodied interaction and immersive spatial experience.
Works in the series include:
People’s Daily Overseas Edition｜Page 6｜3 July 2026
Press, Media & Institutional Features
People’s Daily Overseas Edition
• Lead feature in People’s Daily Overseas Edition, the overseas edition of People’s Daily, one of China’s most authoritative and influential national newspapers, Overseas Chinese section, page 06, in the article “Mi Lin, a UK-based artist — Using Visual Art to Transmit the Elegance of Miao Embroidery” / 《旅英艺术家林汨——用视觉艺术 传苗绣风华》, 3 Jul 2026.
→ Read the article
Aesthetica Magazine
• Full-page feature in Aesthetica Magazine, Issue 128: Reflection (Dec/Jan 2026), Artists’ Directory, p. 142, ISSN 1743-2715, published on 1 Dec 2025. Aesthetica is an internationally distributed art and culture magazine, held in major institutional collections including the Royal College of Art Library.
• Featured in Aesthetica’s Independent Artists to Watch newsletter, circulated to 50,000 international subscribers.
The Royal College of Art
• Featured in Doctoral Spotlight: Celebrating Research Degrees at RCA, RCA Official Website.
• Featured by XR_RCA Instagram.
Selected Awards & Honours
• Official Selection, CREATE / Art, London International Creative Competition (LICC) 2025, organised by Farmani Group, 1 May 2026.
• Silver Winner, Multimedia / Interactive Media, 19th Annual International Design Awards (IDA) 2025, organised by Farmani Group, 11 Dec 2025.
• Winner of the Creative Communication Award (C2A) 2025, Student Category (Other Short Films / TV / Film / Animation), organised by Farmani Group, 12 Nov 2025.
• Shortlisted for the Design Values Award 2025, organised by Design Society and the Victoria and Albert Museum, 21 Apr 2025 (Final results pending).
• Most Likely to Become a Rockstar, ACM Program, Pratt Institute, 2018.
• Adorkable Tiger, The Excellent Graduation Design Award, Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, 2015.
• The Application of Chinese Folk Tiger Patterns in Fashion Design, The Excellent Graduation Thesis Award, Tsinghua University, 2015.
Selected Exhibitions & Presentations
• 3:33, from the Generative Unravelling series — Exhibition RCA AI Festival 2026: Where Intelligence Meets Imagination, Royal College of Art, Snap Visualisation Lab, Rausing Research & Innovation Building, Battersea, London. Invited researcher and artist, 18 Feb 2026. Supported by the EPSRC AI Skills Fund.
• Hand in Thought — Unravelling the Intangible, from the Generative Unravelling series — Exhibition 4th Shanghai Art & Design Exhibition: Revealing Futures, part of the 70th Anniversary Series of the China Art Museum (Shanghai Art Museum), guided by the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, at China Art Museum (Shanghai Art Museum), Shanghai, China. Invited exhibiting artist, 16 Jan — 25 Mar 2026.
• ∞: Thousand Threads, Thousand Universes and Hand in Thought — Unravelling the Intangible, from the Generative Unravelling series — Exhibition AI for Humanity Spotlight, part of GOSIM Hangzhou 2025 global open-source innovation summit, Hangzhou, China. Invited researcher and artist, 13 — 14 Sep 2025.
• ∞: Thousand Threads, Thousand Universes and Hand in Thought — Unravelling the Intangible, from the Generative Unravelling series — Exhibition IEEE ICME AIART Gallery 2025, part of the 7th IEEE Artificial Intelligence for Art Creation Workshop (AIART 2025), a sub-event of the IEEE International Conference on Multimedia & Expo (ICME 2025), at La Cité des Congrès de Nantes, France. Invited researcher and artist, 30 Jun — 4 Jul 2025.
• ∞: Thousand Threads, Thousand Universes and Hand in Thought — Unravelling the Intangible, from the Generative Unravelling series — Exhibition Breaking Boundaries 破域, Tinglan Art Museum 庭澜美术馆, No. 192 Zhengyang Street, Shenhe District, Shenyang, China. Invited artist, 18 Jun — 6 Jul 2025.
• ∞: Thousand Threads, Thousand Universes and Hand in Thought — Unravelling the Intangible, from the Generative Unravelling series — Exhibition Tiangong Kaiwu 天工开物: Crafting Works of Nature, hosted by China Art and Design Magazine《艺术与设计》杂志社有限公司 and the Chinese Embassy, at the China Pavilion, part of London Craft Week 2025, Royal Mint Court, London. Invited artist, 12 — 15 May 2025.
• ∞: Thousand Threads, Thousand Universes, from the Generative Unravelling series — Exhibition Between Coexistence, presented by Chinese Arts & Crafts Society, University of the Arts London (UAL), sponsored by Bounce Fund, at Millbank Tower, London. Invited artist, 30 Apr — 2 May 2025.
• Hand in Thought — Unravelling the Intangible, from the Generative Unravelling series — Event and Exhibition RCA Research Biennale 2025, organised by the Royal College of Art (RCA), Hangar Space, RCA Battersea. Biennale Exhibition Committee member; roundtable speaker of Salon Articulating Material Engagement; researcher and artist, 21 — 27 Feb 2025.
• ∞: Thousand Threads, Thousand Universes, from the Generative Unravelling series — Exhibition Ubiquitous Technology: The Science of Aesthetics, co-hosted by the UK Tsinghua Alumni Association (UKTA) and the organisation’s advisor Nancy Zetian Zhang, made possible by JINGDONG, at 20 King Street, St James’s, London. Exhibition co-curator and artist, 9 Oct — 18 Nov 2024.
• SOFT BODY — Digital art installation SOFT BODY, Aranya Gold Coast Community, Qinhuangdao, Beidaihe, China, with Beijing Poly Art Company Limited. Business development and project planning officer, 2020.
• Butterfly Effect — Exhibition Butterfly Effect, 180 Creative Gallery, New York. Team leader and curator, 2018.
• The Adorkable Tiger — 15/16 Fashion Show, Tsinghua University Academy of Arts & Design and NABA Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano, D-PARK No.1 Workshop, 751 Art Zone, Beijing. Fashion designer, 2015.
• The Adorkable Tiger — Babylon Fashion Show, Tsinghua University Academy of Arts & Design and NABA Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano, Milan International Fashion Week 2015, Milan. Fashion designer, 2015.
• The Adorkable Tiger — The Start of a Long Journey: Outstanding Works by Graduates from Key Art Academies in China. Fashion designer, 2015.
• The Adorkable Tiger — Tsinghua University Academy of Arts & Design 2015 Undergraduate Cohort’s Second Graduation Exhibition, Tsinghua University Art Museum and Area A Multi-Function Hall, Beijing. Fashion designer, 2015.
Selected Talks, Lectures & Panels
• Guest Lecture: Navigating the Intangibility: How Research Takes Shape through Experience, Technology, and Active Making, Envisioning Futures unit, MDes Design Futures, School of Design, Royal College of Art. Guest Lecturer, 5 Feb 2026.
• Panel Discussion: Identities in Motion: Beyond Display, graduate conference presented by the MA Curating & Collections programme, Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London (UAL), held in the Banqueting Hall. Special Lecturer and Invited Panel Guest, speaking alongside Dr Marsha Bradfield (UAL CSM/CCA) and Zheyuan Zhang (Imperial College London), 15 Nov 2025.
• Panel Discussion: Artistic Practice and Identity Reconstruction in a Cross-Cultural Context, associated with the exhibition Between Coexistence, presented by Chinese Arts & Crafts Society, University of the Arts London (UAL), sponsored by Bounce Fund, at Millbank Tower, London. Panel guest, 30 Apr — 2 May 2025.
• Art Salon: The Symbiosis of Cultural Heritage and Technology, associated with the exhibition Ubiquitous Technology: The Science of Aesthetics, 20 King Street, St James’s, London. Art salon curator and speaker, 16 Nov 2024.
Publications
• Bremner, C. et al. (2024) Whether We Design: A Weather Report. Printed Publication. Available at: https://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/5670/.
Funding & Support
• EPSRC AI Skills Fund, Royal College of Art — Support for the exhibition of 3:33, from the Generative Unravelling series, at RCA AI Festival 2026: Where Intelligence Meets Imagination, 18 Feb 2026.
• Friend of Tsinghua Fashion Scholarship, Tsinghua University, 2015.
• Outstanding Literary and Artistic Scholarship, Tsinghua University, 2011 — 2012.
Education
• PhD Student in Textile Design Research, Royal College of Art, London, U.K., Sep 2023 — Present.
• MPS in Arts and Cultural Management, Pratt Institute, New York, U.S., Aug 2016 — May 2018, GPA: 3.82/4.0.
• BA in Fashion Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, Sep 2011 — Jul 2015, GPA: 3.93/4.0.
Work Experiences
• Marketing and Business Development Director, UK Tsinghua Association, London, U.K., Dec 2023 — Present.
• Founder, Brand Manager & Design Director, Misha Lin Studio, Beijing, China, Nov 2020 — Present.
• Business Development & Project Planning Officer, Beijing Poly Art Contemporary Limited, Beijing, China, Nov 2019 — Nov 2020.
• Intern, Textile Department, Jason Wu LLC., New York, U.S., Jun 2018 — Dec 2018.
• Assistant to the Director of Marketing, Wonderworld Interactive Exhibition, New York, U.S., Jun 2018 — Dec 2018.
• Manager of Design & Operation Assistant, 180 Creative Gallery, New York, U.S., Oct 2017 — May 2018.
Project Experiences
• Organiser & Team Leader, Butterfly Effect, New York, U.S., Jun 2017 — May 2018.
• Research Member, The Crop Cycle, New York, U.S., Nov 2017.
• Researcher & Designer, Adorkable Tiger, Beijing, China, Jan 2015 — Jun 2015.
Explore Further
→ Highlights
Selected projects, exhibitions, design works and cross-disciplinary experiences.
Selected projects, exhibitions, design works and cross-disciplinary experiences.
→ Contact Mi
For exhibitions, talks, collaborations and research enquiries.
For exhibitions, talks, collaborations and research enquiries.
