Faith Huang

How to make a Jumpsuit

Faith Huang is a best-selling novelist and multidisciplinary artist whose work deconstructs the mechanisms through which patriarchal narratives and power structures suppress and exploit collective femininity. A graduate of the RISD MFA Illustration program (Class of 2026) on a full scholarship, and a two-time TEDx speaker, Faith draws inspiration from a wide range of disciplines, including science, modern psychology, Traditional Chinese Medicine, anthropology, and pop culture.

Her 2026 thesis exhibition, How to Make a Jumpsuit, operates on two levels. On a literal level, it reflects her technical expertise and interest in embroidery, garment design, and construction. On a metaphorical level, the act of “making a jumpsuit” becomes a framework through which she examines how patriarchal structures shape, discipline, and ultimately stifle authentic femininity.

Faith defines authentic femininity through both Western feminist theory and the archetypal framework of Yin and Yang—the two fundamental forces that sustain all life. Within this system, Yin represents the earth, darkness, receptivity, and inward absorption, while Yang embodies light, action, productivity, and outward force. These forces are meant to exist in dynamic, complementary balance; however, modern society has disrupted this equilibrium by devaluing and distorting qualities associated with the feminine. This imbalance not only harms the well-being of women, but also affects men and contributes to a broader ecological crisis.

Faith believes that the awakening of feminine power is entering a new phase—moving from initial awareness, to collective anger, and ultimately toward a deeper reclamation of authentic femininity.

YogaYoga
Digital media

One of nine illustrations for Faith’s first novel The Project 30, a best-selling novel in mainland China, a witty fiction about how a nerdy female scientist uses science methods to find love within 30 days. Beneath its humorous stories, the work reveals how patriarchal narrative disconnect modern women from their authentic selves. 

The circus elephants
Digital media

Drawing on Michel Foucault’s theory of discipline, this series of seven works presents hybrid figures that merge circus animals with the female body. The training methods imposed on circus animals—repetition, reward, punishment, and behavioral conditioning—are paralleled with the mechanisms through which patriarchal structures regulate and discipline women. By collapsing these two systems, the work reveals how control becomes internalized, transforming the body into a site of compliance, performance, and self-surveillance.

Shedding
Encaustic, Oil Painting, and media
40 x 8"

This project is inspired by my English novel Shedding—a surreal, allegorical tale of a snake's three cycles of reincarnation, symbolizing a woman's awakening journey. It represents a transformative breakthrough in my creative practice. First, I started allowing the process to lead rather than executing a fixed goal. Second, I, rather than illustrating , moved toward abstraction. Third, I played with materiality: encaustic, with its duality of heat and cold, echoes the snake’s biological traits. Most importantly, I changed my relationship to the art work—no longer try to control but treat it as an organic entity with its own will.

The third image above shows the image left on wood panels after peeling off the watercolor paper.

The spoon and Tongue
Digital Work, Riso Print
17 x 22"

This work explores the philosophical metaphor of the spoon and the tongue. While the spoon possesses no taste buds, it touches countless foods and knows them conceptually; the tongue, in contrast, feels every sensation directly. Through this juxtaposition, the piece examines the relationship between mind and body, concept and sensation, culture and nature. In alignment with my practice in general, it suggests that to restore sacred feminine power requires moving beyond the patriarchal narratives rooted in the mind and ego, and returning to the embodied wisdom of the body and nature.