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Yu-Wen Wu

She // Her // Hers

Interdisciplinary Artist

Boston, Massachusetts

Yu-Wen, an Asian woman with dark hair that reaches her shoulders, smiles at the viewer. She wears a black top, hoop earrings, and glasses. Behind her, an art installation comprised of a series of small sculptures is arranged on the wall.

Photo by Mel Taing.

“In my practice, materials are not just mediums but carriers of meaning. Materials such as tea, red thread, gold, porcelain or found objects are chosen for their resonance with ideas of migration, cultural identity, memory, and transformation. The materials tell the story and guide what I make. And in the making, I begin to understand both the material and the context from other perspectives.”

Yu-Wen Wu is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice investigates the intersections of art, science, the natural world, and social and cultural issues. Her works include large-scale drawings, site-specific video installations, community-engaged practices, and public art. Yu-Wen’s works reflect her journey as an immigrant, exploring the complexities of global migration, displacement and the nuances of identity.

Wu was the 2024 Artist-in-Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. She was a recipient of the 2024 Trellis Art Fund, the 2023 James and Audrey Foster Prize at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, and of the Mass Cultural Council Artist Fellowship in New Genre. Her work was recently on view at the Gardner Museum and as part of the Boston Triennial, and at Praise Shadows Art Gallery. She has received prominent public art commissions, including Lantern Stories (2020 and 2022) by the Greenway Conservancy, the Poetry of Reason at Tufts University, and a 2023 work through Now+There and Boston’s Transformative Art Grant, permanently on view at Boston City Hall. Her work is currently on view at the Rose Art Museum. Wu lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts.

This artist page was last updated on: 03.24.2026

Interdisciplinary
In an exhibition setting, three works are visible. On the far right wall, small sculptures are arranged in a large rectangle. Towards the left, eight strands of circular, red porcelain pieces hang from the ceiling and pool on an elevated platform. On the far left and center back, various objects with cultural resonance—tea, gold, lotus leaves, etc.—are arranged along the wall. On the back center wall also features a video projection.

Installation view of ICA Foster Prize exhibition by Yu-Wen Wu, 2023-2024. Mixed media, 5-minute HD video, dimensions variable.

Photo by Mel Taing.

The image features lit lanterns around dusk. Each lantern has intricate patterning, archival photos, and text incorporated.

Lantern Stories by Yu-Wen Wu, 2022. Mixed media, approx. 48 × 36 × 30 inches; installation dimensions variable.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

Reigning Beauty is a digital collage of cascading flora– violets, nasturtiums, hydrangeas, ferns–burst against a stormy sky. It is composed of collected drawings, watercolor paintings, and photographs. The colorful flora fall downwards against a varying gray background.

Reigning Beauty by Yu-Wen Wu, 2025. UV ink on polyvinyl, 16 × 36 feet.

Photo courtesy of the artist.