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Artist: YILIN LAROYE (Cao Yilin)

Laroye is an independent artist based in France whose practice explores the intersection of Eastern philosophy, contemporary visual language, pictographic forms, energy and emotion.

Her work investigates the boundaries between text and image, seeking to evoke cultural memory and emotional resonance. Drawing on the Eastern concept of Qi—the vital energy that flows through all things—her paintings explore emotions as fluid, transformative forces connecting the inner self with the wider world.

Through layered colours, organic forms and rhythmic compositions, Laroye gives visual expression to subtle emotional states, particularly those associated with women’s experiences, memory, suppression and renewal. Her practice brings traditional Eastern aesthetics into dialogue with contemporary artistic expression.

Working primarily in oil painting, she has developed a distinctive visual language that bridges Eastern cultural sensibilities and Western painting traditions.

Her works have been collected by the Zhu Qizhan Art Museum in Shanghai, the Maili Art Museum in Seoul, the Dutch Maritime Art Foundation, and other cultural and private institutions.

Laroye has exhibited internationally in China, France, the Netherlands, South Korea, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Belgium. Her exhibitions include presentations at the Shanghai Art Museum, Liu Haisu Art Museum, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Maili Art Museum in Seoul, and the Grand Palais in Paris. In 2025, she received the Art en Fête Award at the Senlis Art Fair in France.