• Xin is a scholar on the subject of Buddhist art and relics
• Stone sculpting came to him later in life and he pours much academic research into his craft
• Conceptual planning and drawn sketches are a key part of his making process

Xin Yang majored in visual communication at university and has worked in a range of creative fields including ceramic design and illustration throughout his career. He is also a professional relic authenticator and a keen relic collector. In 2009, he became drawn to ancient Buddhist art, which led him to deeper research on Buddhist sculptures and to publishing seminal monographs, including Fan Wu Zhi. Xin's research on Buddhist sculptures, covering stone, clay, wood and bronze, has taken him to major art academies and grotto institutes as a speaker, though he remains an independent scholar. It was not until 2022 that Xin began making his own sculptures. "The shift to hands-on stone sculpting brought me a profound sense of relief," he shares. "The experience of carving stone is a world apart from academic study. It is as though I am walking two paths at the same time: one in the ancient world, the other in the here and now.”