Dr. Yanyun Chen is an artist drawn to stories that write us, which are written onto and into our bodies; and in turn, the re-writing of these stories through drawing, animation, installation, and sculpture. She traces hurt, grief, wilt, and scars, parses time’s slow violence on botanical and human bodies, and untangles tenuous social constructs around womanhood and upbringing.
These scars that we carry in our bodies, are they marks of progress or burdens of histories?
Her practice wrestles with and casts doubt on traditions in form, method, and subject: on one hand, traditions are celebrated as markers for identity, and as ways of honouring existing value systems and intergenerational lineage; on the other hand, traditions are also limitations, boundaries, and social barriers.
Her practice hopes to honour the scars carried in our bodies.
Chen has exhibited internationally, and been the recipient of prestigious awards including the Singapore National Arts Council Young Artist Award (2020), ArtOutreach IMPART Visual Artist Award (2019), and SAM President’s Young Talents People’s Choice Award (2018), Chen’s works can be found in private and corporate collections. Chen holds a PhD from the European Graduate School, an MA in Communications, and a BFA in Animation. She was previously a Professor of the Practice at SMFA Tufts University, Boston, and Lecturer at Yale-NUS College in Singapore.
Born in 1986, she lives and works in Singapore.