CUI YUXUAN 

Documentary Photography, Place, Journey

  1. Puppet Manchukuo: Echoes in the Layers of Time
  2. Divided Spaces, Dissolved Orders
  3. Deconstruct the “Tools” 
  4. Lost, Lost, Lost  失，失，失
  5. I’ve Never Heard a Swan Song

Space, Narrative, Installation

  1. What you will  第十二夜
  2. Love Me Tender, Bite Me True 
  3. Trespass 飞（非）地烟花
  4. 溯流 Go Upstream
  5. Jiakong, Jiakong 
  6. -Borderline as Storyline- 

Object, Text, Life, Act on Instinct  
  1. 言之凿凿 As if It's Carved in Stone
  2. Cleaning as Method  
 Info/Bio

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©2024 Cui Yuxuan

2022-2023
Sheer curtains, voyage log books, video installation 9’ 2’’, digital printing, blankets, cushions, cat bed, found porcelain cat
This work is based on a fictional voyage log the artist wrote featuring a female sailor accompanied only by her feline companion, Benjamin. Inspired by the journals of Captain Matthew Flinders describing his friendship with his ship cat Trim, Yuxuan has reimagined her own adventures. She leaves the attributes of masculinity, patriarchy, and colonial conquest behind and attends to the absence of women in these archives. From a female perspective, she recounts the bond formed with Benjamin through their shared experience of “escape” and rewrites their destiny on the sea. Benjamin becomes her closest, most dependable companion, with whom she shares time, space, memories and kinship.

这部作品基于艺术家撰写的虚构航行日志，讲述了一名女性水手在她唯一的猫咪伙伴 Benjamin 陪伴下的故事。受马修·弗林德斯船长的日记启发，他描述了与他的船猫 Trim 的友谊，Yuxuan 重新想象了自己的冒险。她抛弃了日记中男性气概、父权制和殖民征服的特质，关注于这些档案中女性的缺席。从女性的视角出发，她讲述了与 Benjamin 通过共同的“逃亡”经历所形成的纽带，并重新书写了他们在海上的命运。Benjamin 成为她最亲近、最可靠的伙伴，与她共享时间、空间、记忆和亲缘。

In crafting these narratives, Yuxuan often returned to a common Chinese phrase “同舟共济” meaning to sail alongside someone even in the face of hardship, towards a shared fate. This expression promotes sentiments of trust, solidarity and companionship that she aspires to in her rapport with Benjamin. Both the voyage and the relationship challenge her to seek true understanding, unity and connection, beyond even her own species.

在创作这些叙事时，Yuxuan 经常回想起一个常用的中文短语“同舟共济”，意思是即使在困难面前也要与他人同船共济，走向共同的命运。这个表达传达了她与 Benjamin 之间信任、团结和陪伴的情感。航行和关系挑战她去寻求超越自己物种的真正理解、团结和连接。

She wonders if it’s just a coincidence words like relationship, friendship, companionship and kinship all end in ship?

她想知道，像 relationship（关系）、friendship（友谊）、companionship（陪伴）和 kinship（亲缘）这样的词语，都以 ship 结尾是否只是巧合？





                                             


       




           














With a feline companion by her side, the artist creates a space aboard an imaginary ship, sailing towards an unknown destination. As the audience enters into a simulation of the artist’s voyage log, an invitation is made to sail together through physical movements and whispered language. Through this journey, the audience is offered a glimpse of the resilience and interdependence shared by Yuxuan and her companion. As the artist and the audience move through the space together, they are transported to a world of exploration and self-care, where the body becomes a vessel for exploring the depths and unknown mysteries of connection.

在一只猫咪同伴的陪伴下，艺术家在一艘想象中的船上创造了一个空间，驶向未知的目的地。当观众进入艺术家航行日志的模拟场景时，他们被邀请通过肢体动作和低声细语一起航行。通过这段旅程，观众得以一瞥艺术家和她的伙伴所共享的韧性和相互依赖。当艺术家和观众一起穿越这个空间时，他们被带入一个探索与自我关怀的世界，在那里，身体成为探索连接深度和未知奥秘的载体。