Artist-in-Residence
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Jennifer Wen Ma
Charleston, SC | Fall 2024
FSA welcomes artist Jennifer Wen Ma to Charleston for a residency this fall. Ma is a multi-disciplinary visual artist, propelled by conceptual interests to pursue different media and forms that offer the most evocative expressions of the concept, manifested as immersive, experiential installations, paintings, videos, public art, performances, or social practice works. The foundation of these large-scale and multi-faceted projects is a grounding practice of quietly, repetitively, and contemplatively making calligraphic drawings. These works are rarely seen by the public and seldom exhibited, nourishing Ma’s inner self, fueling the engine that drives the rest of her practice.
Ma plans to base her FSA fall residency in Charleston on this drawing and writing exercise. She will work daily on a 100-meter-long paper scroll, either alone or inviting visitors, friends, artists, and conversation partners into the studio to participate in some capacity. They could directly interact with the paper or contribute through her hand and brush. The starting point of the exploration will be how one obtains spiritual subsistence with consistency, longevity, and sustainability.
She will give an artist talk, “Between Spiritual Ideals and Material Realities: Jennifer Wen Ma on Art and Community” at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in Charleston on October 1st from 5:30-7:00pm. The talk is free and open to the public; more information HERE.
She states: “At the onset of the 2020 pandemic, I initiated a weekly book club to read ancient Chinese classics in their original textual form.
Select Images
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Jennifer Wen Ma, “Isle of Enchantment,” 2012. 6,700 live plants, 650 kg of Chinese ink, and Eucalyptus beams.
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Jennifer Wen Ma, “An Inward Sea,” 2021. Laser-cut flashspun non-woven HDPE, pigments, glass sculptures, metal mechanisms, video, and audio tracks.
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Jennifer Wen Ma, “ Cry Joy Garden - Fold,” 2018. Laser-cut flashspun nonwoven HDPE garden, copper fruit, mechanical elements.
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Jennifer Wen Ma, “ Cry Joy Garden - Fold,” 2018. Laser-cut flashspun nonwoven HDPE garden, copper fruit, mechanical elements.
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Jennifer Wen Ma, “Moler,” 2016. Ink-painted acrylic glass panels, 480 pieces of hand-crafted glass, flashspun nonwoven HDPE fiber leaves, 75 kg of Chinese ink, lights, wooden walkway, steel framework, sound files, and audio playback system.
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