Yiwei Lu
Bio: Yiwei Lu is an artist and refrigerator based in New York and Nanjing. As an artist, Yiwei’s work has been exhibited internationally, including Nanjing Powerlong Art Center, The Wallach Art Gallery, SVA Library, Nanjing University of Arts, Trieste Photo Days, and Open Air Art Project. As a refrigerator, Yiwei aims to unfreeze time, to make it hers. She focuses on the man-altered and social landscape. Created by humans, left with traces of use, they become part of human society and the figurative representation of collective memory. Through the methodical composition, the deepest levels of emotion transfers into extreme restraint. Yiwei is pursuing an MFA in Visual Art from Columbia University and holds an BFA in Photography and Video from the School of Visual Arts.
thelyw.com
Instagram @luyiweitina
Thesis Exhibition
Artist Statement: “Back to The City” is a photo-based project blending documentary shots from World Park, Beijing, China, three “Family” Albums, and monumental sculpture.
World Park, a thematic showcase of global cultures with static miniature landscapes, opened in 1993, offering a condensed world tour experience. Until 2005, when China be- gan issuing individual travel visas, it served as a unique encounter with global landmarks for its citizens.
The park primarily serves as a photo back- ground for tourists, offering a fictitious “global journey” proof. It speaks to the permanence of images. Photography faces authenticity challenges due to falseness in static landscapes and recent AI advancements.
Two family albums feature AI-generated images of Chinese tourists in front of the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building from the 1970s to 2010s. Contemplating their sentiments in less-documented eras raises questions about business trips or immigrant journeys. Another album showcases my family’s travel memories from in the early 2000s. Although I was too young to remember them.
The sculpture installation features towering replicas of the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building. These iconic landmarks blur the line between appearance and function as it reaches monumental heights. The AI-generated images are printed on tracing paper and affixed to the model, creating a fragile yet striking visual effect. It becomes the Tower of Babel wrapped in skin, condensed with time-traversing personal experiences or family stories.
Yiwei Lu
Back to The City: Video Call Screenshot, 2024
Photo album with inkjet prints inside
Courtesy of the artist
&
Back to The City: World Park, 2024
Inkjet prints
Courtesy of the artist
&
Back to The City: Sandbox, 2024
Zen garden toy, Mini monument models
Courtesy of the artist
&
Back to the City: Eiffel Tower, 2024
Metal frames, rice glue, and AI-generated image prints on tracing paper
Courtesy of the artist
&
Back to The City: Journey to the East, 2024
Single-channel, video, color, silent
5 minutes
Courtesy of the artist
&
Back to The City: Family Albums, 2024
Photo albums with inkjet prints inside
Courtesy of the artist
&
Back to the City: Empire State Building, 2024
Metal frames, rice glue, AI-generated image prints on Inbe thib paper, and LED light strip
Courtesy of the artist
First Year Exhibition
Yiwei Lu
Night at the Museum, 2023
Inkjet print paper collage on metal sheet
17" x 12" x 1"
&
Night at the Museum, 2023
Roll play projection by Kodak Ektagraphic Slide projector 5600
18" x 26"
Courtesy the artist
