Next Round
She has already endured the impactof the previous round,
but she has not left.
Strength does not mean never falling.
It means choosing, after a fall,
to return to the place
that still belongs to you.
SHOWCASE
/ ARTIST / 2026
| ARTIST: | XuShiYu |
| COUNTRY: | China |
| CONTACT: |
https://www.instagram.com/girlspower.art/ https://xhslink.com/m/1sYB9eam4UK |
| XU SHIYU is a Chinese artist whose work explores feminine power, emotional recovery, and the reconstruction of the body through painting and mixed media. Her series Girls Power transforms traditionally feminine symbols—bows, lips, flowers, perfume, pink, and vivid colors—into forms of armor, resistance, and self-protection. Working with acrylic paint, thick textures, graffiti-like marks, and mixed materials, she creates bold female figures that are both soft and powerful, vulnerable and defiant. Boxing gloves, weights, and muscular bodies appear throughout her works not only as sports imagery, but also as emotional tools for boundary-setting, healing, and reclaiming control. Through Girls Power: Softness Does Not Mean Giving In, XU SHIYU presents softness not as weakness, but as another form of strength. |
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of the previous round,
but she has not left.
Strength does not mean never falling.
It means choosing, after a fall,
to return to the place
that still belongs to you.
Fight Mode
She no longer waits for lifeto decide where the next blow will land.
She enters fight mode on her own terms,
turning boxing into an outlet for emotion,
a language of the body,
and a way to reclaim control over her life.
Soft but Unbreakable
Flowers, butterflies, vivid colors,and boxing gloves
are allowed to exist together.
She does not have to abandon softness
in order to prove that she is strong.
Softness is not a crack.
It is another form of power
that cannot be destroyed.
She Lifts Herself
What needs to be liftedis not only the weight,
but herself.
When no one reaches out,
she learns to become her own support.
The weight that once held her down
becomes the force
that carries her upward.
Unseen Self
At last, she seesthe self that was never truly seen before.
Lips, perfume, bows, and reflections
are no longer made merely
to be admired by someone else.
They become part of how she understands
desire, identity, and her own body.
Bow Armor
The bow once represented sweetness,gentleness, and obedience.
Now it shields her from the gaze,
protects her wounds,
and becomes armor
tied by her own hands.
She no longer rejects
the feminine parts of herself.
She redefines them.
Soft Armor
Her body does not have to choosebetween softness and strength.
Pink, skin, muscle, and boxing
come together to form
her complex and authentic power.
Her softness is not an exposed weakness.
It is armor worn close to the body,
something that cannot be taken away.
Guard Up
Raising her glovesdoes not always mean she wants to attack.
Sometimes,
it simply means she has finally understood
that she has the right to set boundaries
and the right to reject
anything that crosses them and causes harm.
First Round
The first punchis not only thrown at the outside world.
It also breaks through silence, obedience,
and self-doubt.
When the gloves leave the figure
and become symbols in their own right,
they mark the first time
she truly stands up for herself.
Still Fighting
The story does not end in victory.Because real feminine strength
is never simply
a clean and flawless triumph.
It is choosing to act while exhausted,
to repair after being hurt,
and to continue
even while uncertain.
She is still fighting.
That, in itself, is the answer.
Final Series Quote
She steps back into the ring,
enters the fight,
and lifts herself.
She sees the parts of herself
that once went unseen,
and reforges bows, lips, pink, and the body
into armor.
She begins to protect herself,
to fight for herself,
and to accept that the battle
may not end easily.
Softness does not mean giving in.
True strength is not never breaking.
It is choosing to stand again
after being broken.