Xin Cheng
Residency

August & September 2026
Xin Cheng is an artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa New Zealand whose extensive practice spans sculpture, design, publication, record-keeping, teaching, community organising and event facilitation among many other mediums, activities and outcomes.

Xin first worked with us at STARLING as part of our first screening programme Chrysalis with her works Seeing Like A Forest (2019) and Suburban Water Bodies (2022) back in January 2024. Xin’s practice showcases instances of inventive resourcefulness and alternative methods of making within urban spaces – her ongoing project Everyday Resourcefulness keeps record of years of the artists observations and reflections on ways that people have adapted communal and public environments.

Spending three weeks gleaning the streets and businesses of Limerick city, Xin turned STARLING into a recycled material workshop for note-book making using foraged plants, bicycle inner tubes, canvas fabric and more. Collecting Nettle, Tī Kouka (NZ Palm/Cabbage Tree) and other plants from urban gardens and riverside areas, workshop participants were lead through an introduction to working with fibre from these sources to create rope, then used for book binding.

An open studio at the culmination of the residency screened Stories from Te Auaunga Oakley Creek (2024) by Xin Cheng and Adam Ben-Dror, a work which observes the creatures and vegetation surrounding one of the longest urban streams in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. This screening was followed by a presentation from Xin, sharing insights gained on textile, weaving, spinning and knitting practices in Co. Limerick and Clare as well as observations on other local craft practices and ecology.

Thank you to the following people and businesses for supporting Xins residency through their generousity in sharing knowledge, time and materials. Elizabeth O’Connor, Jean Moran, Louie Zalk-Neale, Limerick Zine Fest, Common Knowledge, Irelanda Canvas, Seamless Sewing Studio, Polyprint, Hacketts.

This residency was made possible by the Arts Council, Limerick City and County Council and the artist.

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