Xiaoyun Chen: moodi — Emotional Frequencies

Xiaoyun Chen Gives Form to Emotions Beyond Words

PARIS, October 2026 — How does an emotion become visible? For designer and visual artist Xiaoyun Chen, the question is at the heart of moodi — Emotional Frequencies, a project exploring how inner states can take visual form before they can be put into words.

Moving between illustration and concepts for digital and tactile interaction, Chen treats emotion not as something to define or resolve, but as an experience to be sensed and interpreted. The project invites viewers to encounter each feeling through color, form, space, and movement—and to find their own meaning in what they see.

At the center of moodi is Emotional Frequencies, a series of four works: Anger — Burst, Fear — Enclosure, Joy — Expansion, and Sadness — Drift. Rather than illustrating emotions through characters or narrative scenes, Chen gives each one its own visual logic.

In Anger — Burst, red fragments radiate from a central point in an explosive outward motion. Fear — Enclosure layers botanical forms into a space that appears to tighten around the viewer, evoking compression and confinement. In Joy — Expansion, plantlike shapes open into a bright, spacious field, suggesting lightness and growth. Sadness — Drift uses cool blues and a downward visual movement to create a sense of quiet descent and suspension.

Together, the works form a fluid visual vocabulary. Emotion is presented not as a fixed category, but as an energy that can erupt, contract, expand, or drift. Chen's approach begins with perception rather than explanation, inviting viewers to enter the work through sensation and develop their own interpretations.

Beyond the image, the project proposes a tactile interactive object — an emotion cube paired with touch domes — that would invite participants to touch, compare, and connect what they see with what they feel, extending the project's visual language from observation toward embodied experience.

Although moodi grew from an interest in emotional awareness in early childhood, its central question reaches across age groups: how do we recognize an inner state before we have the words to describe it? In Chen's work, an image, a color, a rhythm, or a texture can offer a way in.Chen's practice bridges design and art, with a sustained interest in how images carry feeling and how visual forms can create connections—with oneself and with others. Through moodi, she explores a form of expression that can invite recognition and empathy without relying on language.

Based in San Jose, California, Xiaoyun Chen works across product design and visual art. Her work has received international recognition, including the MUSE Design Awards, International Design Awards (IDA), iF Design Award, and European Product Design Award (EPDA). She has exhibited in London, Paris, and New York, including at ODYSSEY at Sol de Paris, Paris. Chen has also served as a juror for international design awards, including the CES Innovation Awards.

moodi — Emotional Frequencies was presented at ODYSSEY — International Art Exhibition, Sol de Paris, Paris, September 30 – October 8, 2026.

Project Information

Project: moodi — Emotional Frequencies

Artist: Xiaoyun Chen (陈小云)

Medium: Illustration, with concepts for a digital experience and an interactive installation

Exhibition: ODYSSEY — International Art Exhibition

Location: Sol de Paris, 17 Rue Chapon, 75003 Paris

Dates: September 30 – October 8, 2026

Works

• Anger — Burst

• Fear — Enclosure

• Joy — Expansion

• Sadness — Drift

Xiaoyun Chen

Designer & Visual Artist

San Jose, California

Editor: Joris Bernard