ZISHI TU(Yuxi Chen)
Mix Media, Installation
3D Art

Zishi Tu(Yuxi Chen) is a London-based Creative Technologist and 3D Artist whose practice explores the construction of imaginary worlds through cuteness, mythology, play, and dark fantasy. Working across interactive installation, pen plotter painting, visual games, animation, and 3D digital media, she creates characters and environments that exist between tenderness and unease.

Her work centres on the idea of building an alternative world through cute characters. These figures inhabit strange, playful, and sometimes unsettling spaces, inviting audiences to enter a world where softness becomes powerful, and cuteness becomes a language for storytelling, transformation, and resistance.


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Codename:Melesa

Anime stylised 3D character

This character was a personal project I made in my spare time to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the “Snake”. I mixed in some traditional Chinese clothing elements with a bit of punk flair—just something I really enjoy.

The whole thing was done in Blender, and I painted the textures in Substance Painter.

Jan 2025
Blender, Substance Painter， Marvelous Designer


Melesa is a character I designed in my free time, originally created to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Snake. From the start, I wanted her to have a sly and lively vibe—something that felt snake-like in spirit. Since it was for Chinese New Year, I went with traditional elements in the outfit, like a cheongsam-style dress decorated with floral patterns and little snakes. To balance the cuteness with something cooler and more punk, I gave her an elaborate hairstyle with detailed dreadlocks and colorful hairbands.





Reference sheets








*Texture Painting

All the textures were hand-painted in Substance Painter, and the character uses a total of five texture maps. This is also the most complex stylized character I’ve worked on so far.


Hand- painted in Substance Painter
* Original Concept and references

Original Concept and references