Wen Yi Hou
Wen Yi Hou
Workspace Program Resident 1991
An artist who refers directly to the I Ching, Wen Yi Hou presses a market of organic matter into her sheets of handmade paper. The behavior of these vegetable and animal objects react organically with the linen rag paper pulp and, through the mechanical process of paper making, interject the material with a life of its own. Collaborating in the studio with Paul Wong, Wen Yi was able to manipulate the paper medium and utilize all of its strengths. She created disparate works, ranging in style, aesthetic, and intention. Poetry undoubtedly affects Wen Yi’s work and it manifests itself in both through both a written and visual language.
About the Artist
Wen Yi Hou (b. Shanghai, China) received a BA from Zhejiang Art Institute and a MFA from the Visual Arts Department of the University of California at San Diego. She was one of the few female artists enthusiastically involved in the New Wave movement in early 1980's in China. Her paintings also express her strong and sensitive feelings as a single mother and artist in New York. The documentary film "Flow" 1993 by Yau Ching about her life was shown at the MOMA film and video program. (Source: China 2000 Fine Art)