Wen-Jen Deng: The Embedded Stitch - Contemporary Fiber Art from Taiwan
Thursday June 12 3PM: meet the artist and curators, exhibition tour. Deng debut solo exhibition in NYC.
Thursday June 12 3PM: meet the artist and curators, exhibition tour. Deng debut solo exhibition in NYC.
🎉 You're Invited!
Wen-Jen Deng: Debut Solo Exhibition in New York City
📅 Thursday, June 12
🕒 3:00 PM – artist & curator talk and exhibition tour
Join us for the New York debut of Taiwanese fiber artist Wen-Jen Deng at the Tenri Cultural Institute. The event begins with a panel discussion featuring curators and guest speakers, followed by the opening reception of her solo exhibition, Embedded Stitch – Contemporary Fiber Art from Taiwan.
📍 Tenri Cultural Institute
43A West 13th Street, New York, NY
Don't miss this celebration of textile storytelling, cultural memory, and contemporary fiber art!
more information:
Programming
Artist & Curator Talk and Exhibition Tour: Thursday, June 12, 3–5pm
Panel Discussion: Friday, June 6, 3–5pm
Featuring art critic Allison C. Meier, curator Irene Georgia Tsatsos, and scholar Thomas Van Dyke in dialogue with The Embedded Stitch artist and curators
Opening Reception: Friday, June 6, 6–8pm
Artist & Curator Talk and Exhibition Tour: Thursday, June 12, 3–4pm
To learn more, visit taac-us.org or dengwenjen.wixstudio.com.
This exhibition is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan; and T-Content Plan, and is co-organized by the Taiwanese American Arts Council.
The exhibition title, ‘Wen-Jen Deng: The Embedded Stitch - Contemporary Fiber Art from Taiwan’, is inspired by the influential work, The Subversive Stitch, originally published in 1984 by the renowned British art historian Rozsika Parker. Her book outlines the history of, and the relationship between, women and embroidery, which is usually seen as domestic, feminine and passive. The Taiwanese artist, Wen-Jen Deng, has been utilizing embroidery and textiles in her art creation for more than twenty years, and has been creating a body of impressive and unique works which visualize the diversity and hybridity of contemporary Taiwanese culture. The exhibition, ‘The Embedded Stitch’, exhibits a selection of her fiber artworks which do not deal directly with the concepts of feminism, but rather depict her identity and how this is related to indigenous Taiwanese tribal culture, and the complex colonial history of Taiwan.
Sponsored by: Ministry of Culture, Taiwan; T-Content Plan Local organizer: Taiwanese American Arts Council.
Taiwanese artist Deng Wen-Jen uses dye embroidery and stich soft sculpture to forge a language of cultural geography and history. Rooted in Taiwan’s cultural landscape and informed by field research and residencies across the world, her work draws on indigenous motifs, food culture, and deep historical truth to create textile narratives of place and belonging. By way of hand-dyed fabrics and thread, Deng maps a visual world shaped by ecological observation and cultural circulation. Her “quiet feminism” emerges through material intimacy—reclaiming fiber art as a vital medium for self-expression and placing it squarely in the mainstream of art history.
About Artist Wen-Jen Deng
About artist Wen-Jen Deng
Wen-Jen Deng was born in Dongzhu, Hualien. Her Hakka grandfather had journeyed there on foot from Zhudong, Hsinchu. Her mother came from Majialu, a hunting ground that was granted by the Puyuma Tribe to the Siraya Pingpu people of Dazhuang (now Dongli) in 1862, along with cattle and pigs. Both sides of her family have witnessed the long history of ethnic migration in Taiwan.
Deng graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (L'ENSB-A) in Paris, France. Her recent work focuses on Taiwan’s history, Indigenous culture, and ethnic integration. She also incorporates her passion for mountain climbing and exploration, weaving these life experiences into her tapestry and indigo-dyed map creations.
Tenri Cultural Institute of New York
43A West 13th Street, New York, NY 10011
+1 212-645-2800
展覽名稱：鄧文貞：深植之針－臺灣當代纖維藝術
座谈會：6 月 6 日星期五，下午 3-5 點
開幕酒會： 6 月 6 日 星期五，下午 6-8 點
展覽日期：2025年6月4日至28日
藝術家及策展人展覽導覽：6 月 12 日星期四，下午 3- 5 點
策展人：陳明惠 Ming Turner, 李美華 Luchia Meihua Lee
藝術家鄧文貞的當代纖維藝術展《深植之針》將於2025年6月6日於紐約天理文化中心舉行開幕酒會與座談。鄧文貞同時也受邀於總督島諾蘭公園（Nolan Park）House 17 進行駐村、展覽與工作坊活動。本展預計展出30件作品與立體裝置，呈現臺灣原住民族遷徙、歷史地景、文化記憶與17世紀大航海時期的跨文化想像。
展出作品包括《餐桌上的全球化》、《青埔1924》與最新力作《雲豹回家》等。鄧文貞近年以藍染、刺繡、織錦畫與軟雕塑形式，發展平面與立體創作，展場中並搭配五部藝術進駐紀錄片同步播放。
策展人陳明惠教授表示：「展覽輔以臺灣古地圖、歷史照片與重大事件說明，觀眾除欣賞作品外，亦可深入理解臺灣歷史脈絡。」紐約策展人李美華說：「鄧文貞從地方文化汲取靈感，以染繡、纖維裝置與布面構圖建構出記憶與地景交錯的文化地圖。她的創作是一種文化語言的再造。」展覽座談會並邀請藝評人與策展人 Allison C. Meier、Irene Georgia Tsatsos 及 Thomas Van Dyke 共論主題。
鄧文貞的藝術深植臺灣土地，亦回應旅行與文化交流帶來的變動視角。她曾於2024年在紐約總督島駐村，結合島嶼地形、靛藍染料與縫線，描繪島嶼記憶。她表示：「紐約是一座充滿活力的城市，居民大多來自全球，或許正因如此，每個人都笑容滿面。大蘋果果然營養又好吃！」
本展由臺灣文化部指導，「臺流文化黑潮計畫」贊助，為鄧文貞精彩創作首次跨海展出，誠摯邀請對纖維藝術與臺灣文化有興趣的觀眾蒞臨參觀！
贊助合作：台灣文化部， 黑潮計劃，台美文藝協會，天理學院藝廊
