Jasper Yi CaoPhotography
Horizon, I know you are a ship that will never anchor
Loveletters, Fireworks and Time Travle 
A Transoceanic Imagination: Midsummer, 1994
Memory of salt
Pink, Pink
Connected and Estranged Relatives
Physical, intimate
Lyrical Miniature
Between the Wall
Distortion
仙人掌诗人在乱叫 Howling Cactus: Independent Photography & Publishing
01: And then the traces disappeared
02: No words wander here
2/5: Personal Preference
03: Still can't turn to the left
04: Touch us here, in the wrong place
Publication
Lyrical Miniature

Loveletters, Fireworks and Time Travle ( with PNPRESS )
第二支矛 The second spear ( with HAKUCHI )
Untitled, Unsent letter

Curation
Fiction, Vision, Mirror
Book  Design
一百年太久 So Long ( for Yao Meng)
缀断耳语 Episodic Murmuring ( with Stasis Space, for Yiwei )
神游 Spirt Away ( with Automatic studio )
使者的云 Obscurities ( for Yao Meng & Vera Xia )
Nonsense ( for Choi Hui )
Game of Photos ( for Cai Dongdong )
Fissure of a Sweet dreame ( for Jialin Yan )
Random Access to Memory ( for Tengteng Da )
最后的人 The last of us ( for RyeWave )
目之所至 As far as we can see 2022 ( for athaartspace )
目之所至 As far as we can see 2023 ( for athaartspace )
青灯 
一种平静 ( for Wang Xin )
Life-Place ( for Yesheng )
Picnic ( for Uqbar )
Zood ( for Tengteng Da )
Decision ( for Bian Yachun )
Journey of Perplexity ( for Lei Bai )
Water, Elsewhere ( for Jianuan Xu )
The Evil Dragon Was Defeated in Winter ( for Shu Zhang )
CV
Jasper Yi Cao (b. 1998, Changsha, China) is a photographic artist and book designer based in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Her work explores the intersection of archives, memory, and collective experience in contemporary Chinese society.

Blending photography, handmade books, and darkroom techniques, she constructs non-linear visual narratives. She is also the founder of a design studio and co-founder of the “Howling Cactus” photography group, through which she has published magazines, exhibited internationally, and supported self-publishing. Her practice spans image-making, editorial design, and independent publishing, with a focus on history, memory, and the poetics of time.

jasper.caoyi@gmail.com
Instagram: cao1caoyi
Jasper  Yi  Cao

Education
MA in fine art, HKU Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht
September 2024 - June 2026
BFA in Visual Communication Design, School of Design, Jiangnan University     September 2016 - June 2020

Grants and Awards
Kan Tai-Keung Design Award Professional group Outstanding Award, 2024
2023 Top20 Chinese Contemporary Photography Award, 2023
Graphic Design in China 2023 Design Award Finalist, 2023
Pingyao International Photography Festival photograph DIY Book Exhibition Award, 2023
PlaceM Dummy Photobook Sample Book Award (Award of Handmade Book of PlaceM Gallery in Tokoy ), 2023
Space on Paper: Jimei Arles Book Exhibition Finalist Arles Book Exhibition Finalist (Award of Handmade Book of Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in China), 2023
First Natural Growth Photographers Programme Finalist, 2020
Hiiibrand Design Award Finalist (Logo Design Student Group Finalist), 2018

Solo Exhibition and Project
Journey to Home: The Vortex, Curated by Shuiye, Digu Artspace, Changsha, China, March 2023
The Comedy Store Spring Exhibition: Still or Running, Curated by Damu, Comedy Shop, Beijing, China, April 2022 
The Memory of Salt, Curated by Siyi Zhang, WhiteField, Beijing, China, July 2021
Connected and Estranged Relatives, Curated by Guangbo Li, Natural Growth Art Centre, Chongqing, China, May 2021

Residency
Niort Villa Perochon RJPI 2025,  Niort, France, Apirl 2025
Bathroom Artist residency program, Guangzhou China, January 2024
PNPRESS print making residency, Beijing, China, March 2023

Curatorial Project
Fiction, Vision, Mirror, Totem Pole Photo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, September 2024
Sunbathing Art Book Exhibition, White Field, Beijing, China,  June 2022
Day Night:Da Tengteng Solo Exhibition, Time Cycle Art Space, Changsha, China,  November 2019

Selected Group Exhibition
Koln Photography festivel 2025, Temperaies Haus Fur Fotografie, Koln, Germany,  May 2025
Niort RJPI 2025,  2e expo résidents Villaperochon, Mediatheque, Niort, France, May 2025
Niort RJPI 2025,  1re expo résidents Villaperochon, Mediatheque, Niort, France, April 2025
Ensemble 2024, Moon Gallery, Tokoy, Japan, January 2025
Interstice of Shedding,  Stasis Space, Beijing, China, Apirl 2024
Prints on Paper: The History and Present of Handmade Photobooks, Yingyiactions, Beijing, China, December 2023
Dummy Book in PlaceM, PlaceM (Photography Gallery), Tokoy, Japan, November 2023
Paths as Methods of Images, Donglai Art, Chengdu, China, November 2023
Top20 2023 Chinese Contemporary Photograph Exhibition, Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou, China, November 2023
Pingyao International Photography Festival Photograph DIY Book Exhibition, Pingyao, China, September 2023
Dancing to Dreams: City Radar, Hunan Art Museum, Changsha, China, January 2023
On the Land of Natural Growth: Guizhou International Local Photography Art Festival, Huangping, China, October 2022
The Magnetic Field: Yellow box experiment Space: Flat Steps to a Dim Atmosphere, Himalayan Art Museum, Shanghai, China, October 2021
Emotional Container, Wilding Lounge, Jinan, China, October 2021
Spiral Exhibition Programe Season 1: Spiritual Landscape, MuguTang, Chengdu, China, August 2021
Hakuchi 3rd Anniversary Exhibition, Ecool ABC Art Design Centre, Chongqing, China, December 2020
L.A.P the 2nd Self- Publish Exhibition, L.A.P Gallery, Wuhan, China, December 2020

Selected Book Fair
KG+ Kyoto Art Book Fair, kurochiku, kyoto, Japan, April 2024 
Fotobook Dummy Day, Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab, Taiwan, December 2023
BABF Bangkok Art Book Fair, Asia International Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, December 2023
TABF Tokyo Art Book Fair, Tokyoto Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan, November 2023
Rehearsal Art Book Fair, University Settlement,New York,The US, July 2023
Shanghai Art Book Fair, Star Gallery, Shanghai, China, June 2023
ABC Art Book Fair, Quan Ye Chang Building, Beijing, China, June 2022
BonJour! BABF Art Book Fair, Himalayan Art Museum, Shanghai, China, September 2021
Three Shadows PhoPhofair, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China, June 2021

Conference and Talk
Visiting Artist, “Marks on Paper: The History and Present of Handmade Photo-books”, YINGYIAUCTIONS Gallery, Beijing, China, December 2023
Guest Lecturer, “Family Images and Archival Memory: Photo-books as a Method”, Jiangnan University School of Design, Wuxi, China, December 2023
Guest Lecturer, “Portraits, Cotton Threads and Handmade Books: Photo-book Workshop”, Digger Art Space, Changsha, China,  September 2023
Guest Lecturer, Handmade Book Workshop, Xie Zilong Photography Museum, Changsha, China, May 2023
Panelist, Obscurities Book Launch, Blue Onism Art Space, Beijing, China, February 2023
Panelist, “Why Photo-books: Confrontation, Disappearance, Reproduction: Photography Salon”, Cotton Factory Art Space, Changsha, China, August 2022
Presenter, “Still or Running: Opening Sharing”, Comedy Shop, Beijing, China, April 2022
Presenter, Life-place Book Launch, White Field, Beijing, China, October 2021
Presenter, “Salt of Layers: Opening Sharing”, White Field, Beijing, China, July 2021
Panelist, Three Shadows Phophofair 2021, Lecture Sharing, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China, June 2021
Guest Lecturer, “From Design to Photography”, Jiangnan University School of Design, Wuxi, China, December 2021

Publication 
Loveletters, fireworks and time travel, with PNPRESS, April 2023
HAKUCHI 2023 album "The Second Spear” November 2023
With Qingchen Yi, and Yan. Touch us Here, In the Wrong Place. Self-published, 2022
With Qingchen Yi, and Yan. Still can't Turn to the Left. Self-published, 2021
With Qingchen Yi, and Yan. Personal Preference. Self-published, 2021
With Qingchen Yi, and Yan. No Words Wondering Here. Self-published, 2020
With Qingchen Yi, and Yan.  Then the Traces Disappeared. Self-published, 2019
© Jasper Yi Cao