Born in Brunei in 1970, FANG Wei-Wen’s childhood was peaceful and surrounded by Chinese immigrants of Fujian, Guangdong, and Hakka descents. At 12, he was granted with the Republic of China passport and later came to Taiwan to study. In 1993, he graduated from Tunghai University’s Department of Fine Arts, and received his master’s degree from the Graduate Institute of Tainan National College of the Arts, Department of Plastic Arts in 2003. In 1999, he participated in the artist residency program at the Vermont Studio Center in the U.S. With subsidization from the Council for Cultural Affairs in 1998, he participated in the artist residency program at the 18th Street Arts Center in Los Angeles. Winner of the 7th Taipei County Art Exhibition award, Fang is currently based in Tainan, with Taiwan regarded as his second homeland.

Born in 1970 in Brunei, FANG Wei-Wen later moved to Taiwan to study. Situated in Taiwan and also of Chinese descent, Fang, nevertheless, exudes an imposing foreign quality. At the one hand, this island is just another stopping point for his moving journey; on the other hand, it is also the place where he has carried out his artistic career and life. The duality gives his art an obvious open quality, with nomadic links and interactions presented between objects and objects, images and images, symbols and symbols. However, being away from home for so long, his definitions of home and foreign land have thus become quite ambiguous, with nostalgia not only pertaining to the notion of “home”, as accessible found objects are delicately collected and transformed into incognito domains imprinted with personal memories and regarded as the most intimate choice for self-expression. His aesthetics of diaspora have created many unique expressions for the contemporary art in Taiwan.

Born in Brunei, Fang started a new life in Taiwan, an island used to be called Formosa. Compared to other members of the art community in Taiwan, Fang is unique for his drifting past and migrant experience, which also make his art unique with distinctive contents and metaphors. What is homeland, what is home, and what is historical memory; these are subjects and realizations of uncertainty expressed in Fang’s art, which also prompts him to carefully savor and observe his surroundings. The familiar world is constantly shifting, and like a detached visual poet, Fang likes to turn surrounding objects and events into his own unique artistic vocabulary as he quietly observes them in detail.

For his art, he engages in gathering, absorbing and bestowing the things and occurrences around him with a new sense of life. Different objects of either being hand painted, produced by machines, or derived from the natural environment or living space are incorporated by him into a comprehensive whole to induce exchanges and correspondences. Those that may appear to be completely irrelevant elements seem to be transformed into musical stanzas and symbols and are infused into the different chapters in his travel journal. He also opts for completely handmade approach to stitch and weave the media into his world of art, through his own physical labor and bodily intervention. He believes that home is where one is. His artistic style often strays away from robust and stable textures, and uses flowing movements, compilations, and repetitive depictions and uncertain structures to create a unique artistic arena. His art, such as the YEH-YEH Village series, does not use criticisms or representations as the subjective core; rather, he opts to express his self-reflections with tranquil, rhythmic, and rich personal sentiments. In this era of confounding noises, Fang’s art stands out due to the unique warmth it exudes.