In the project, I combine the medium of photography and sculptures to create both photographic and sculptural assemblage. I use fleshy Sculpey clay to build up altered and fragmented bodies as my subjects, aiming to create a dialogue between the ambiguous nature of the objects and the space depicted in photographs- photography is the pictorial representation of mental states.
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In the project, I combine the medium of photography and sculptures to create both photographic and sculptural assemblage. I use fleshy Sculpey clay to build up altered and fragmented bodies as my subjects, aiming to create a dialogue between the ambiguous nature of the objects and the space depicted in photographs- photography is the pictorial representation of mental states.
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A cactus
in the Chimney
Project Description
Biography
Yi Hsuan Lai, a Taiwanese lens-based artist now based in New York, incorporates handmade sculptures, found materials, and her body for staged photography in two and three dimensions, exploring themes of adaptation, uncertainty, and femininity.
She has received residency fellowships from Light Work (2024) and Vermont Studio Center (2023), and participated in the NYFA immigration program in 2023. Her solo exhibitions include NARS Foundation (2024), Gallery 456 (2024), and Spring Break Art Show (2020), with group exhibitions at Photo London (2023), Floor_Gallery (2023), Wassaic Project (2022), and Well Well Project (2022). Lai's work was recognized among LensCulture's Critics' Top 10 Choices in 2022.
Artist Statement
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My work investigates the fluid boundaries between two and three dimensions through staged photography, sculptural assemblages, and collages. Incorporating found objects, disposable materials, and my body, I transform everyday items into visceral landscapes that explore themes of vulnerability, femininity, and transformation.
By manipulating scale, perspective, and composition, I blur the distinctions between object and body, human and non-human. Printing on unconventional surfaces such as nylon lycra, vinyl, and metal, I create psychological spaces that invite tactile engagement, positioning the body as a bridge between the ephemeral and the material. Through this interplay, my photography reflects on impermanence, encouraging viewers to see themselves and contemplate their relational value to experience and identity in flux.