10 Questions with Yalan Wen

Yalan Wen is an artist based in New York City who works on computational images, new media installations, and motion graphics. Born and raised in Taiwan, she developed her curiosity about art and science. Her work explores the subtle events that happen beyond the surface, finding the balance between simplicity and nuanced philosophical interpretations.

Her works have been exhibited in SIGGRAPH ASIA art gallery, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, CULTUREHUB Re-Fest, and West Harlem Art Fund on Governors Island. She has an MFA in Computer Arts from the School of Visual Arts, NY.

yalanwen.com | @yalanlanlan

ARTIST STATEMENT

As an artist making paintings, installations, and mixed media artworks, Yalan Wen looks for the similarities between people's thoughts and actions to know what connects them. She takes inspiration directly from her surrounding environment. The subjects include aspects of ordinary life that usually go unnoticed. By putting them in an unexpected context, she changes their meanings. Yalan's works playfully experiment with levels of consciousness and behavior such as inaction, omission, and aleatoric processes. The compositions or settings present poetic images that balance the work on the edge of recognition and alienation. Combining symbolic ideas and graphic language, using programming for linear organization, and also allowing randomness in the process, the artworks function with known and unknown elements.

Cascade 03, video, 1920 p, 2022 © Yalan Wen

INTERVIEW

First of all, let’s talk about yourself first. How did you start getting interested in art?

I think I’ve always been interested in art since I was little, but didn’t get into it until college. I gradually exposed myself to different mediums, from digital design and screen printing to animation and music. Then I decided to pursue my interest in moving images. Luckily I got a scholarship from the School of Visual Arts. That’s where my journey in the US starts.

Do you remember the first time you realized you wanted to be an artist?

There isn’t a clear moment for that. I feel that I have the freedom to express, imagine and create anything I want when making art. When I saw artworks such as the sound installation by John Cage or paintings by abstract expressionism artists, I was fascinated by how art can let people view the world differently, and I found myself enjoying creating art too.

Cascade 01, video, 1920 p, 2022 © Yalan Wen

Cascade 02, video, 1920 p, 2022 © Yalan Wen

You were born and raised in Taiwan but moved to NYC where you attended the School of Visual Arts. How was this move beneficial to your work and career?

My art career kind of started here in NYC, and I think it’s a good place to start considering the variety of people, cultures, and environment. I met various artists through school, art residency, and exhibitions. Meeting these people and being immersed in this kind of environment really inspired me a lot.

You work with different mediums, from painting and mixed media installations to video and motion graphics. What is your preferred medium of choice, the one you feel closer to yourself?

It’s hard to decide. I think I’m at the stage of being curious about everything and wanting to try different things out. For now, I’d say drawing and digital media are two things that I feel are closer to me. I’ve been thinking about better ways to combine them and make a cohesive piece out of them. But it really depends on the work that I’m working on.

How do you differentiate your work depending on the medium you choose to use? Do you approach different themes with different media?

Yes, I think about the context, and decide how to display the works that can stay true to the idea the most. For example, Room View was displayed on a mobile phone in an exhibition because it pictures the pandemic in 2020 when people stayed at home and communicated with digital devices.

Your work deals with “aspects of ordinary life that usually go unnoticed,” as you mention in your statement. Where do you get inspiration from? And how do you work on these ideas to incorporate them into your work?

Viewing things from different angles is one thing that I feel is important and constantly appears in many stages of my work. This idea gradually came to me when I read books, listened to music, and talked with people that I was close to.
It’s interesting when staying aware of something that you’re used to, like our daily life, and trying to reanalyze or view it in another way. And that’s how I usually put them in my work. It can be analytic, poetic, or innovative.

Your works balance different elements, such as recognition and alienation, symbolic elements, and everyday experiences. What messages do you want to convey with your work?

Depending on the subject, it varies in each work, but observation is one common action behind them. I really enjoy creating works that connect dots or redefine the relationship of my original thoughts.

Is there any other medium or technique you would like to experiment with or incorporate into your work?

I want to try a larger scale of painting, sculpture, or installation if I have a chance. I think space makes things different and it can really immerse people into the work.

What are you working on now? Do you have any new projects or exhibitions you would like to share with our readers?

The current project I’m working on is in digital format too, It’ll be shown in a group show next year in January. Stay tuned by signing up for the newsletter.

And finally, how would you describe Yalan Wen in three words?

Space, sound, and light

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