Scaffold
Scaffold 支撑 Yumeng Wu Contemporary Art Solo Exhibition
Date: 2 October - 2 December 2021
Venue: 10 Huanghe East Road, Zhengzhou, China
Programme Director: Wei Mo
Curator: Yunxia Jiang
Scaffold is the first solo exhibition by contemporary artist Yumeng Wu, presenting a comprehensive survey of her narrative-based artistic practice over the past four years. Centred around the idea of “support”—both physical and psychological—the exhibition unfolds through jewellery, metalwork, installation, and performance, revealing Wu’s sustained exploration of individual experience and bodily perception.
At the heart of the exhibition is a powerful performance piece titled Gaslighting, based on a true story of a woman who suffered from online abuse and verbal attacks. During the performance, the protagonist steps into a transparent water tank while dyes of different colours are gradually poured over her body. Each colour represents a form of harm, prejudice, or accusation. As the dyes accumulate, they cling to her skin like a second skin, transforming into a symbolic armour that both protects and reclaims her sense of self. Through this immersive and emotionally charged act, Gaslighting visualises how trauma can be confronted, reframed, and ultimately transformed into resilience.
Alongside the performance, the exhibition features a selection of Wu’s earlier works created between 2018 and 2021 during her studies at California College of the Arts. These include small-scale sculptures and wearable objects made with techniques such as forging, casting, enamelling, and engraving. Materially rich and emotionally resonant, these pieces reflect her long-standing interest in themes such as gaze, identity, emotional memory, and social power. Wu’s work often situates the body as both subject and site—an instrument through which emotion is externalised and meaning is negotiated.
Yumeng Wu graduated in 2021 with a BFA in Jewellery and Metal Arts from California College of the Arts. Her interdisciplinary training spans psychology, philosophy, textiles, ceramics, and craft theory, all of which inform her highly symbolic and narrative-driven approach. In 2019, she participated in the Yuma Art Symposium in Arizona, assisting with artist support and event coordination—an early formative experience in both studio and exhibition practice.
Scaffold is not only a personal reflection but also a broader inquiry into how individuals—especially women—construct internal frameworks to withstand external pressure. As trauma is visualised, shared, and symbolically processed through art, Wu invites audiences to witness the quiet yet radical force of rebuilding: what does it mean to become your own scaffold?
