Wen-Jen Deng: The Embedded Stitch - Contemporary Fiber Art from Taiwan
Panel Discussion: Friday June 6, 3-5 pm
Opening reception: Friday June 6, 2025 6-8pm
Artist and curator’s talk and exhibition tour: Thursday June 12, 2-4pm
Exhibition Dates: June 4 to 28, 2025
Curator: Luchia Meihua Lee, Ming Turner
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 2- 4 點
策展人：陳明惠 Ming Turner, 李美華 Luchia Meihua Lee
贊助合作：
台灣文化部， 黑潮計劃，台美文藝協會，天理文化中心
