Wu MeiChi

Wu MeiChi

BABY'S BABY

 

In the digital age we find ourselves in, the tension arising from the increasing blurring and dynamic disjunction between the virtual and real worlds is not only reshaping and expanding our cognitive and aesthetic experiences but also compelling us to further contemplate the relationship between authenticity and virtuality, as well as between representation and existence.

 

Baby’s baby is an exhibition that blends Wu MeiChi’s personal life experiences with her unique visual aesthetics. As one of Taiwan's most prominent young visual artists, Wu MeiChi’s contemporary perspective and individualized approach to the medium of media demonstrate her comprehension, adjustment, and contemplation of the evolving external reality. Furthermore, her work offers a broader response to the technological, social, cultural, identity, and aesthetic changes that the era is undergoing.

 

Wu MeiChi primarily utilizes a camera as her main creative tool, yet her artworks are neither conventional photography nor reliant on computer-generated visuals. Instead, through experimental scene construction, she consciously assembles compositions of matter and space that transcend the physical norms within her images. Preferring hands-on techniques over digital processes, she prints her photographs and subsequently manipulates them manually. This manipulation includes collage, reconstruction, and translation, resulting in images that boast nonlinear aesthetics, skillfully blending virtual and tangible spaces.

 

In her creative process, Wu MeiChi consistently incorporates objects and elements from her personal surroundings and experiences. With a distinct preference for inexpensive plastics, sequin materials, and fluorescent colors, her art embodies a bold and unconventional aesthetic. In our digitally dominated age, the fluorescent hues in Wu MeiChi’s pieces evoke the sensory immersion characteristic of our times.

 

Building upon this lineage of visual aesthetics, the exhibition Baby’s baby is anchored in Wu MeiChi’s personal life experiences and emotional narratives.

In the Picnic series, Wu MeiChi provides a visual representation of a past romantic experience. She incorporates the objectification of the body into her visual language by using images of reshaped body parts, installations of body part models, picnic baskets, plastic grass, wallpaper, and other diverse elements. In a profound and intricate manner, she portrays the feelings of loss and longing that arise after the conclusion of a relationship. The sense of loss conveyed in the artwork, enriched with a touch of antiquity and subcultural aesthetics, may evoke in viewers a nostalgic sorrow for the physical world, natural environments, and interpersonal interactions from the pre-digital age. This, in turn, sparks discussions on topics such as emotional memories and transitions in the digital era.

The Operating Room Party series highlights Wu MeiChi’s spirited, witty, and forward-looking approach to dealing with her chronic physical condition, especially as she approached an impending hip replacement surgery. These artworks not only depict the unique sense of seamlessly moving between virtual and real dimensions in today's digital world but also underscore her deeply held philosophical convictions, her unwavering commitment to “freedom” and “existence.” Perhaps, through these pieces, viewers may be inspired to contemplate the multi-dimensional aspects of life in our contemporary era.

The Baby’s Baby exhibition features a wide range of artistic expressions, encompassing traditional photography, object collages, digital paintings, textile tapestries, 3D animations, and diverse installations. Unified by Wu MeiChi’s distinct visual style, these various mediums come together to interweave emotions, from sorrow to joy and from nostalgia to celebration. Collectively, they offer a complex, dizzying, and symbiotic visual experience that blurs the lines between the virtual and the tangible.

 

In the emerging post-human era of human-machine integration that we are gradually entering, Baby’s Baby serves as a visual and sensory gateway. It enables us to explore the expansion of aesthetic experiences and emotional connections as we freely navigate between the virtual and real worlds. This, in turn, encourages us to contemplate contemporary issues such as the interplay between virtuality and reality, the dimensions of time and space, the broadening of perception, and matters of individual identity and existence.

 

Born in Tainan in 1989, Wu Meiqi graduated from Kaohsiung University with a degree in Craft and Creative Design, specializing in Imaging. Currently, she works and lives in Taipei.

Wu MeiChi is a modern digital image creator known for her innovative use of various media. She centers her work around color still-life photography based on her life experiences and the characteristics of the contemporary era that blend reality with virtuality. Through a blend of still-life, studio photography, abstraction, image culture, and scientific experimentation, she crafts images encompassing colors, light, object iterations, and spatial divisions.

 

Some of her recent significant solo exhibitions include Pandora's Box at A26 Space in 2023, PICNIC at Taipei Pon Ding in 2021, and YXX-The Flares at Taipei EACH MODERN Gallery in 2019. She has also participated in notable group exhibitions like IMAGRATION at Tokyo's Gallery Common in 2023, The Eye of Abstraction at Taipei National Center of Photography and Images in 2023, and A Fresh Look - The Artist's Window at Taiwan Art Bank in 2022. Her work has garnered attention and reviews in media outlets such as Voices of Photography, CANS Contemporary Art News, UNLIRICE, and BIOS monthly.

 

Her works are represented by Taipei EACH MODERN Gallery. Her pieces have been prominently featured at major art fairs across Asia in recent years. These include the Taipei Dangdai Arts and Idea Exhibition, Art Taipei, Art Fair Tokyo, Shanghai West Bund Art & Design, ONE ART Taipei, and Daikanyama Photo Fair in Tokyo, among others. Furthermore, her artworks are part of the Taiwan Art Bank collections and have found homes in the private collections of art enthusiasts.