New York - June 15 2025, 3:26pm From May 16 to 18, 2025, an exhibition unfolded at 356 Broadway in New York. Visitors moved fluidly between physical works and digital interfaces—some navigating a virtual gallery through a LED screen installation, others engaging directly with artists about the ideas behind their work. It was not a conventional exhibition. It was titled Infinite Weaving.
As one of the world’s most influential design festivals, NYCxDESIGN attracts over 100,000 visitors annually, bringing together designers, artists, and institutions from across the globe. Within its 2025 official program, Infinite Weaving, presented by NotYetArt, stood out for its structural innovation and cross-media integration.
Reframing the Exhibition: Beyond Time and Space
Unlike traditional exhibitions where digital components serve as supplementary content, Infinite Weaving redefined the relationship between physical and virtual space. The exhibition featured 19 artists and designers—12 presented on-site at 356 Broadway, and 7 exhibited through a virtual platform accessible globally.
Throughout the three-day run, the exhibition maintained a high volume of visitors and garnered attention from both industry professionals and the public.
Following the exhibition, we spoke with its curator and director, and NotYetArt co-founder, Sichun Zhang, to explore her perspective on what an exhibition can become.
“The title Infinite Weaving reflects how contemporary creation no longer exists within a single medium or cultural context,” Zhang explains. “Whether through AI, VR, painting, or photography, what we see is a continuous interweaving of technologies, cultures, and personal experiences. The exhibition is not about a specific medium—it’s about a state of connection.”
Virtual Exhibition, Infinite Weaving
To realize this concept, NotYetArt developed a 24/7 virtual exhibition space, extending the exhibition beyond physical and temporal limitations. Within the physical venue, interactive portals allowed visitors to enter the virtual gallery in real time, creating a continuous viewing experience across dimensions.
In this structure, the boundaries between online and offline dissolve. The exhibition becomes not a fixed site of viewing, but an accessible system—one that can be entered, revisited, and expanded. This cross-media curatorial approach suggests a new model for contemporary exhibition-making.
Beyond Display: Toward Understanding
When discussing the founding of NotYetArt, Zhang repeatedly returns to a central idea: relationships.
“At its core, it’s about making art visible—but more importantly, making it understood,” she says. “I care deeply about the relationship with artists, not just the outcome of a project. The work is only one layer; what matters is the thinking, the emotions, and how those are expressed through a medium.”
Guided by this perspective, Zhang has consistently engaged in artist interviews and documentation, using dialogue and storytelling to deepen public understanding of creative practices.
In 2024, she conducted an in-depth studio visit with artist Jared FitzGerald in SoHo, New York, which then led to a collaborative Chinese Ink Painting Workshop. The workshop introduced traditional Chinese painting techniques through a contemporary lens, providing participants with materials and direct instruction from the artist.
“Over several hours, participants moved from technical exercises into personal expression,” Zhang recalls. “More importantly, it created a shared space where people from different backgrounds connected through art.”
The response was overwhelmingly positive, reinforcing the value of experience-based, dialogue-driven formats.
From Artist to System Builder
Zhang’s background as an artist informs her approach to platform-building. A graduate of Parsons School of Design (Design and Technology), her early work focused on interactive installations and digital media, with projects recognized internationally, including a feature in In The Spotlight, Issue V (Autumn 2023) by Women United ART MAGAZINE.
“These experiences shaped my understanding of medium and expression,” she reflects. “But I realized that many strong creators don’t lack ability—they lack access to larger contexts. That realization led me from making work to curating, and ultimately to building platforms.”
In 2024, she co-founded NotYetArt.
For Zhang, NotYetArt is not merely a project-based platform, but an evolving system—one that connects creators across cultures and disciplines through exhibitions, runway shows, and content, enabling their work to be understood, circulated, and sustained.
Conclusion: A System of Ongoing Connection
Through Zhang’s practice, it becomes clear that her work extends beyond exhibition-making to addressing a fundamental question: how can art truly be seen—and understood?
Under her direction, NotYetArt has developed into a cross-cultural platform spanning art, fashion, and design, with projects across New York Fashion Week, NYCxDESIGN, and the Shanghai International Design Festival. Participating artists have also gained extended visibility through international media coverage, including Associated Press, Art Insider, and MSN.
Co-founder Sichun Zhang and Yalin Hu with artists, Infinite Weaving
“We’re not building a space for display,” Zhang notes. “We’re building a system—one where creation can be understood, connected, and continuously activated.”
From digital artist to the architect of a platform connecting hundreds of creators, Zhang offers a clear proposition: rather than waiting to be seen, one can construct the conditions for visibility.
Under her leadership, NotYetArt is transforming visibility from a moment into a structure—from being seen once, to being understood over time.
As more creators enter this system, and as their work circulates across exhibitions, media, and discourse, a new possibility emerges: cross-cultural creativity no longer requires translation—it becomes a space that can be directly entered.
This may well be the most enduring impact of Zhang's work.
By Jose Villarreal
Editor Artdaily
