Yu-Chen Chiu
TAIWAN
Instagram @yuchenchiuart
Yu-Chen Chiu takes a poetic approach to tell stories about migration and belonging. Born and raised in Taiwan, she has spent half her life in the United States. Her experience as an immigrant with internalized cultural conflict has strongly influenced her artistic approach and the themes she pursues. Yu-Chen was the fellow of the En Foco 2018 Photography Fellowship. Her artwork has been exhibited worldwide at venues like the Chelsea Art Museum, and the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City, Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Indiana, USA, and Musee du Louvre Paris, France. Her background includes a B.A. in English Literature from Chinese Culture University and an M.P.S. degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at New York University. She has also studied photography at the Cooper Union and International Center of Photography (ICP).
• SERIES •
America Seen
America Seen
America Seen is a visual poem about the social landscape of the United States during the Trump administration. In this time of political unrest and uncertainty, many issues made me take a closer look at my second home: matters of race and gender; privacy and patriotism; violence and understanding. I want to capture the spirit of the era from an outsider's perspective. The journey started from the locales that represent America to me: New York City, where I’ve lived for more than a decade; Texas, home of the famous stockyards; and finally, Arizona, which symbolizes the frontier spirit of the United States. My route took me from the spectacular cityscape of Manhattan, south to the neon-light sleepless Nashville, Tennessee, still farther south to the tropical Florida Keys, west through the sprawling flat middle of the country, still farther west to the bygone town of Bombay Beach, California, and at last, up and back around to the timeless solitude of Butte, Montana. Through my explorations of the land, stark contrasts came to life--heights of glamour and the depths of decline, the scale of the land, and the diversity of race and culture. These differences are striking for someone who grew up in Taiwan, a small island country that is ethnically similar with a collectivist culture. Through photography, I realized my curiosity about the country is the reflection of its identity. While looking for the All-American scenes, I am searching for my own memories of Taiwan. AMERICA SEEN is not intended only as a self-exploration of the U.S. It’s designed to document a history of this uncertain era. Through my lens, the audience can come along and see for themselves how the divided emotions blend together in search of the American Dream.