Liao Wen 廖雯

Liao Wen's artistic practice focuses primarily on sculpture, alongside performance and video. Inspired by the experience of making marionettes in her early career, Liao's sculptures emphasize the invisible force transferred and constrained among the joints, revealing the fragility and instability of living beings, as well as their strength and resilience in the process of resisting the former.

 

Liao Wen's creative motifs are partly derived from the experience of the body: in the series Almost Collapsing Balance the sculptural structures suspending at a steady state suggest a similar physical and mental condition that is approaching the threshold. Another source of inspiration is her study of gender in culture: the series Rites of Seasons explores the embodiment and resonance of life cycle in female bodies and natural rhythms by unraveling seasonal rituals in women's communities. Meanwhile, in the series Poisons and Antidotes, the artist contemplates women's intricate and ambiguous roles in using natural substances that function as both poison and medicine, and traces the depiction of this history in varying power relations and cultural contexts.

 

Liao Wen (b. 1994 Chengdu) lives and works in Hong Kong. She received her MFA from Central Academy of Fine Arts China in 2019 and her BFA from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 2016. Her solo exhibitions include “Naked” Frieze New York (New York, 2023), “Almost Collapsing Balance,” Capsule Shanghai (Shanghai, 2021), and “The Body Knows Silently,” Cai Jin Space (Beijing, 2021). She has participated in group exhibitions “Durian-Durian: Southeast Asian Studies as a Methodology,” The First Trans-Southeast Asia Triennial (Guangzhou, 2023); “Bodies and Souls,” Cassina Projects (Milan, 2023); “Durian on the Skin,” François Ghebaly Gallery (Los Angeles, 2022); “BOOMERANG-OCAT Biennale 2021”, OCT Art & Design Gallery (Shenzhen, 2021); “2nd Women Artists International Biennial of Macau” (Macau, 2020); “She Says”, Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum (Chengdu, 2019) among others. 

 

She was one of the finalist artists of the Ducato Prize 2023 and was awarded the Frieze New York Stand prize in 2023. Her works have been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Art in America, and The Art Newspaper China. She will have a solo exhibition with Capsule Venice this year and has been selected to be the resident of Pro Helvetia in Switzerland in 2025.