The GRID (2017)
#Site Specific Installation#soldering #urbanoberservation #Khrushchevka #ModernChina #socialhousing #hopscotch
In 2017, I returned to the residential compound of my childhood just before its demolition. I have always been intrigued by the site's geometry—a 1980s Soviet-influenced style defined by a rigid grid system.
Under the Danwei (work unit) system, housing was considered a welfare benefit rather than a commodity. This standardization extended even to the ground, paved with uniform 1-by-1 meter tiles.
However, the strict grid wasn't just a constraint. I have vivid memories of playing hopscotch on these tiles with friends—appropriating the ready-made grid for our own joy. We turned a system of order into a playground. In summer 2017, I created this installation to mark that intersection of structure and play, right before it disappeared.
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Mycelium Running (2018)
#papermaking #artandscience #bacteriagrowing #artistsbook #craft # Venice Architecture Biennale 2018 #ecological exploration #connections
In 2018, I joined the Illinois Mycological Association by accident, where I became fascinated by mycelium—an organism defined not by the individual, but by the network. I was struck by the idea that fungi do not die from aging, but from a loss of connection.
While mycelium forms an invisible, underground web that channels nutrients to sustain the entire forest, our human society was becoming increasingly fixated on visible borders and rigid definitions of citizenship.
Created during a time of intense political struggle over immigration, this work asks: As an 'alien' in American society facing these barriers:
what can I learn from the borderless, life-sustaining connectivity of mycelium?
How can I cultivate connection in service of others?
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Travelogue I (2019)
#3D Printing, #DigitalModeling #ArcGIS #papermaking #screenprinting #artistbook#rhinos #connections
I have long been fascinated by the concept of the artist’s book, having created them for years without a single written word. Integrating my travelogues now feels like initiating a biological process. In this project, I revisit five distinct landscapes with my travel stories: the vertical energy of New York City, the raw ether of Reykjavik, the layered history of Brussels, the aquatic mirrors of Venice, and the spiritual heights of Gannan.
Memory is a form of slow fermentation; it does not stay preserved in a vacuum. It breathes, ages, and evolves, taking on a life of its own long after the journey ends. Through screenprinting, 3D modeling, and papermaking, I give these memories a physical home. Regardless of the medium, as long as the imagination remains vital, the core of the work remains unshakable.
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Travelogue II (2019)
#photography #Collection #Mail Arts #Collage
I have reframed the project as a 'distributed travelogue.' Instead of returning from a journey with souvenirs, I collect the overlooked debris of the city—dryer lint, faded receipts, street grit—and mail them to friends who have migrated away.
I encase these mundane relics in slide mounts, turning them into portable anchors for the displaced. Through this act, the travelogue evolves from a singular, private document into a shared, living network. I am asserting that my city’s map is not a static grid, but an elastic membrane—it stretches across the globe, surviving wherever we perform our quiet rituals of memory.
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Making the invisible visible, and the fragile permanent (2019)
#papermaking #molding&casting #materialsensibility #materialexperiment #MaterialInnovation #CompositeStudy #ConcreteCasting #Prototyping
I have attended Architect ZHANG Ke’s lecture and amazed by his concrete experiements in his architecture project. Drawing inspirations from the building enviroment of traditional residential areas in Beijing.
An experiment in contrasting materialities.
I juxtaposed the warmth and texture of handmade paper with the cold permanence of cast concrete. By embedding the formed paper into the aggregate, I created a hybrid object that is simultaneously structural and delicate. It challenges the binary of "construction material" vs. "art material," seeking a synthesis where the structure protects the fragility within.
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Neri&Hu: Works in Permanent Evolution (2021)
#Curation #SpatialNarrative #ProjectManagement #ArchitecturalResearch #AdaptiveReuse#AcademicPartnership
A 15-year retrospective exhibition for the leading interdisciplinary practice Neri&Hu.
As the co-curator, I structured the firm’s vast body of work into six conceptual categories (e.g., Reflective Nostalgia, Inhabitable Strata), translating abstract architectural inquiries into a tangible spatial narrative. The exhibition served as a critical interface between professional practice and academic discourse, attracting over 2,000 visitors and fostering public engagement with the built environment.
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Chinese Overseas Finance and Investment
What Have We Learned? (2022)
# International Conference #insitutional work #GlobalSouth #Human Rights #Facilitation # Sustainability #Social Justice#SystemDesign #Geopolitics #Strategy
A three-day international conference convened by the Ford Foundation. Amidst rising US-China tensions, I co-designed and facilitated this strategic intervention to examine the impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on the Global South. The program moved beyond binary political rhetoric, creating a safe platform for stakeholders to discuss sustainability, equity, and the agency of indigenous communities. This project represents my shift to designing systems of collaboration, demonstrating that creating the conditions for dialogue is a critical act of design.
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Book of Caring: To be heard is to be loved (2025)
#SocialPractice #Facilitation #ZineMaking #CoCreation #CollectiveWisdom#ParticipatoryArt #ToolForDialogue
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junecilu@outlook.com
Ins: juicyisnotjuicy
Linkedin: Junxi LU
Douban: 豹纹袖套
Hi, there!
I am Junxi (June-Shee).
My roots are in art, but my practice has evolved into a bit of a hybrid. I’ve worked as an artist, a programmer, a grantmaker, a designer and a curator. It’s this blend of experiences that defines who I am.
Most of my work is inspired by my ongoing engagement with the world—from conversations with friends and strangers, ambient music, and books, to broader political struggles, empowerment, and self-organization.
Currently based in Beijing, I work as a cultural practitioner and grantmaker, continuing to design dialogues within the Chinese civic sector.
Off-duty, I am a dedicated practitioner of Iyengar yoga, an avid zine-maker, and an observer of the unintentional design of everyday city life—often accompanied by my one-year-old and hyper-active cat Si Hei.
at postpost Beijing, Winter 2025
Curatorial Project, Neri&Hu: Works in Permanent Evolution,
College of Architecture & Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai
2019
Group Show, The Plant Show, Groundlevel Platform, Chicago
Group Show, Shelter for Soul, Seoul Hall Of Urbanism & Architecture, Seoul
Group Show, Visual Arts Exhibition, Luminarts Culture Foundation, Chicago
2018
Group Show, Living Architecture, 6018 North, Chicago
Group Show, Designer Artist Citizen Site: Exploring Belonging, Università Ca’Foscari, Venice
*Partner program of the United State Pavillon in 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale
Group Show, Undergraduate Exhibition, Sullivan Gallery, Chicago
2017
Curatorial Project and Research Project, Flipping the Garden, Joan Flasch Artists Book Collections, Chicago
2016
Group Show, Sabina Ott--Who Cares for the Sky, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago
Research & Analysis: Research (Contemporary Design & Architecture, Gender Studies), Writing & Editing, Data Synthesis, Visual Analysis.
Project & Program Management: Cross-functional Collaboration, Grant Management & Compliance, Stakeholder Engagement, Event Coordination.
Communication: Bilingual Communication, Cross-Cultural & Interpersonal Communication, Narrative Development.
Fabrication: Architectural Model Making, Woodworking, Papermaking, Screenprinting, Etching, Soldering (Basic), 3D Printing, Laser Cutting.
Software: Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Adobe InDesign (Basic), Adobe Photoshop (Basic), Adobe Bridge (Basic), SketchUp (Basic), Google Workspace (Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive).
AI related: Gemini (certificated via coursea)
Languages: Chinese (Native), English (Fluent - Oral & Written
Michelle Hyun, New York University Shanghai
Kamau Patton, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Iker Gil, MAS Context
Ann Lui, Future Firm
Matt Ferchen, Ford Foundation
Carol Yinghua Lu, Inside Out Art Museum
Sarah Herda, Graham Foundation
"rapid progress always comes from slow work."
Last Updated 24.10.31