Artist Chen Ruofan has been awarded the inaugural Path To Innovation for Young Creators Recognition (hereafter "Pathfinder Prize") for her solo project "shelter" which debuted in BANK, Shanghai, 2024. The prize is jointly established by to summer and AUDI.
Through a climate narrative woven from silk and video, Shen Li, founder of to summer, observes that Chen's work contains "trees, ice, and wind." While her techniques are decidedly contemporary and Western-influenced, the withered branches and wind-stirred silk gauze in her pieces exude a subtle Eastern lyricism. Jury member Liang Wendao remarked: "Chen Ruofan's chosen mediums traverse the readymade and the virtual with near-seamless stitching—a testament to her rare patience in resisting superficial stimuli."
