Yuxin Luo

Yuxin Luo is a textile designer focusing on bionic design and sustainable materials. With great interest in exploring different media and materials, Yuxin is trying to express her feelings and thoughts through multidisciplinary and multimedia design.

During her study at Royal College of Art, Yuxin was strongly inspired and motivated by the conflict and blend of nature and human-made objects in city life. She believes that trying to understand nature’s messages can be a starting point or turning point for thinking more about sharing with nature.

The Invisible Symbiosis: Yellow in Grey

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‘Symbiosis’ was originally derived from the mutualistic relationship between fungi and bacteria within lichens.

‘Yellow’ represents Xanthoria parietina, the main character in this project.

‘Grey’ represents cities, the ones who provide X. parietina with an opportunity to express more while growing.

The title' The Invisible Symbiosis: Yellow in Grey' refers not only to my first impressions of X. parietina growing on urban objects, but also represents the message that X. parietina convey through their unique colour in the city and the invisible relationship among X. parietina , human and the city.

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In cities, vehicles are the main cause of nitrogen pollution.When nitrogen pollution increases, unlike other lichens, Xanthoria parietina, as a nitrogen-loving species, will continue to grow and breed. Because of this property, it begins to act as a natural monitor of nitrogen pollution.

But, do we really understand its language?

While translating X. parietina’s properties under nitrogen pollution through textiles’ language, Yuxin hopes people could understand more about X. parietina's unique language, and this project also aims to lead people to think more about their living environment and relationship with nature under climate issues.

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‘And if "we" are to survive the Anthropocene-this indeterminate epoch of ours in which the world beyond the human is being increasingly made over by the all-too-human- we will have to actively cultivate these ways of thinking with and like forests.’

——Eduardo Kohn

How Forests Think : Toward an Anthropology Beyond the Human