Wang Yahui mainly works on video, photography, and video installation. Her works are wrapped with quietness, yet they describe the world where something is endlessly changing slowly, or rapidly, underneath the surface. She reverses the ordinary everyday objects, which she says can be the starting points for imagination. Therein lies playfulness, and the works give enigmatic sensations as if the real world as we recognize and illusion are melted into each other organically.
In “Sunshine on tranquility” (2005), “the borders of the white room slowly move and change. The sunlight follows the changes of the space, and shadows project different expressions on the front object” (from the description by the artist). “Ex-change” (2006), which was created during her artist-in-residence in NY, describes private rooms where the objects there slowly appear and disappear in different moments. In “The Visitor” (2007), a small cloud visits and goes through a house that keeps the traces of the traditional Taiwanese life. The relationship between space and image is one of the main themes of Wang’s work. Images has power to change homogeneous space at one moment. Images are experienced, become reality and have potential for reconstructing the existence. Her work, “presented as day dreams with clear consciousness, with eyes open”, is exceptionally poetic, and is like an elegant water flow. Yet, it is also filled with power to make shift of senses through body, inviting the viewer to another reality.
Concept
This exhibition features a video work “You are my sunshine”, about 10 works from two series of photography, “Leaf Holes” and “Make a flower arrangement for me”, drawings and others. On “Leaf Holes”, Wang states, “I collected many fallen leaves with holes, and cut a hole to see the building far behind. Through the camera lens, it looks like this small leaf captured a big building. Big and small, solid and fragile, together in one shot.” Other works are also created with the similar theme: inspiration from the leftover nature in her town.
About the Artist
Wang Yahui was born in Taipei in 1973. She received M.A. in Arts and Technology from Taipei National University of Arts, Taipei in 2004. Wang was awarded Taipei Arts Award in 2002. She currently lives and works in Taipei.
She participated Taipei Biennial in 2002 and 2010, and “Roppongi Art Night in 2010 (Mori Art Museum and other venues) . Her major solo exhibitions include “The Tropical Work: Snowman” (2008, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei) and “Handmade Fairytale” (2010, Cable Gallery, Helsinki, Finland). Her works have been included in the public collections of “Fonds municipal d'art contemporain" of Paris, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts and Taipei Fine Arts Museum. She participated in a group show “things on strings” in July, 2011 at Tomio Koyama gallery. This is her first solo exhibition in Japan.
