Aiyi Cheng(AY266)

Aiyi Cheng (b. 2000, Beijing), also known as AY266, is an interdisciplinary artist and model based in Los Angeles | Raised in Beijing, she moved to California at the age of fourteen | She received her BFA in Fine Art from ArtCenter College of Design in 2023 and her MFA in Digital + Media from Rhode Island School of Design in 2026 | She also completed RISD’s Certificate in Collegiate Teaching in Art and Design (CTAD) |

Working across installation, performance, sound, video, and metal sculpture, Cheng explores the tension between comfort and danger, vulnerability and control | Her practice often begins with fear, pain, and bodily memory, using materials such as reflective metal and human hair to transform private experience into collective sensory encounters | The body functions as both medium and evidence, carrying the marks of endurance, exposure, and care |

Her parallel work as a model further informs her interest in the body as image, surface, and material, and in the relationship between softness, distortion, and self-representation | Cheng has collaborated with brands, designers, artists, and publications, and has appeared in runway presentations, music videos, and short films | Her artwork has been presented in solo and group exhibitions across the United States |