Ali Van is a Minnesota and Hong Kong based multi-disciplinary artist who immanently explores and responds to the components of life around her.
Read MoreBorn in New York, Ali Van was raised between Hong Kong and the United States. She studied at Yale University, graduating in 2008, and received an MFA in Visual Arts in 2013 from Columbia University School of the Arts.
Through photographs, objects, participatory installations, and visual poetry, Ali Van reflects on ephemeral details of the world she experiences, in particular her encounters with body, nature, spirit, and time. Much of her initial work evolved through whimsical investigations with food, dust, and decay.
Her performative works and installations look at the surrounding world more conceptually. An interactive exhibition Weather Trust / Between Stars: Offer Balancing Scenarios—showcasing a constellation of golden nails hammered into the gallery walls by visitors also invited to express their thoughts using a brush freshly cut from the artist's hair—explored how people can be brought together in their shared vulnerability to find balance with each other. In 2019 she created An Intimate Distance, an inaugural performance for Asia Art Archive in America, celebrating togetherness through hopefulness, discipline, and solitude, keeping open values toward personal memories and a collective history.
Fellowships include artist residencies at Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Captiva FL (2020); Yaji Garden, Suzhou, China (2016–17); CCA Kitakyushu, Japan (2014–15); SoArt, Millstatt, Austria (2013–15); and Gallery Seescape, Chiang Mai, Thailand (2013–14), to name a few. Ali Van has lectured and published in Asia, Europe, and the United States. She directs Seawitch on Lantau Island, Hong Kong (2016–) and founded its operating platform Rolodex.
Weather Trust / Between Stars: Offer Balancing Scenarios, Thomas Erben Gallery, New York (2017); All Bodies of Water Always Reflect the Moon, Picture Room, New York (2015); d.t.e.m.h. ( __ ) / __, Angkrit Gallery, Chiang Rai, Thailand (2014); Residues, Yale-China, New Haven CT (2010).
Afterglow: Yokohama Triennale, Yokohama, Japan (2020); Beyond the Globe: U3 Triennal of Contemporary Art, Ljublijana, Slovenia (2016); Social Photography III - VIII, Carriage Trade, New York (2014-2020); Photogravure, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, New York (2013).
Ocula | 2021
