A Cultural Odyssey: The Art of Yuxiao Mu

Born in Dalian, China, Yuxiao Mu is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose work transcends borders and mediums. Now based in Boston, Massachusetts, Mu earned her MFA in Photography from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where she currently teaches, and her BFA in Photography from the LuXun Academy of Fine Arts in China. Her practice, driven by conceptual ideas surrounding memory, emotion, and storytelling, spans analog and digital photography, video, printmaking, and painting. Mu’s work has been exhibited both internationally and nationally, in cities such as Rome, Boston, and Minneapolis, and has been published by esteemed platforms like Visual Atelier8 and Float Magazine. In the fall of 2024, she will begin teaching at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Mu’s artistic journey is deeply rooted in her cultural heritage and the emotional complexity of living far from home. Her fine arts creations reflect the intricate emotions and memories tied to her experiences, especially the challenge of leaving a close-knit family to start anew abroad. This separation has intensified her appreciation for memories and the importance of staying connected to her roots. Through her art, she aims to preserve and celebrate these connections, capturing and immortalizing fleeting moments with photography and printmaking. Her work delves into themes of family, emotions, and memories, often reflecting on her grandmother’s experiences with dementia. The rapid shutter speed of photography mirrors how memories flash and disappear, allowing Mu to capture precious moments, while the tactile nature of printmaking lets her physically engage with her art, incorporating deeply personal elements like scenes from dreams, familiar streets, and sentimental objects such as her grandmother’s handmade mahjong set.

One exemplary piece of Mu’s dedication to these themes is her multimedia series “Phoenix at Sundown,” inspired by her experiences living with her grandmother, who had dementia, for nearly six years. Initially devastated by the diagnosis, Mu found inspiration in the unwavering love and care her mother and aunts provided. This series reflects the vivid yet fragmented world her grandmother inhabited—a place where memories and reality intertwined, much like Mu’s deliberately blurry and abstract photographs.

Living in the United States has given Mu a unique perspective on her grandmother’s condition and her own family dynamics. The cultural and lifestyle differences between the US and China have deepened her understanding of her grandmother’s feelings of disorientation and loss. It has allowed Mu to empathize more profoundly with her grandmother’s experience of dementia—a state where the familiar becomes unfamiliar, and everyday life is a series of fragmented memories. Mu’s life in the US, marked by greater physical distance and a more individualistic culture, has underscored the challenges of maintaining those intimate connections. Through her art, she explores the parallels, using it as a bridge between her past in China and her present in the US.

 “Phoenix at Sundown” not only captures the poignant reality of her grandmother’s condition but also celebrates the resilience and love that sustain their familial bonds across continents. This series, therefore, becomes a powerful narrative of cultural identity, memory, and the enduring ties that bind family members together despite the distances that separate them. One particularly impactful moment in this series was when Mu’s grandmother, in a fleeting act of independence, “stole” an apple from the kitchen and hid it in her bedside drawer. This simple act, and the subsequent discovery of the rotten apple, encapsulated the bittersweet reality of her condition. To convey this experience, Mu left apples in her studio until they rotted, allowing their scent to evoke the same emotional response.

Collaboration plays a significant role in Mu’s creative process. Working with family members, especially those from different generations, provides unique insights into their shared history. For instance, she directs her mother to photograph her grandmother and her belongings via video calls. She also enlisted her aunt to record her grandmother’s daily humming, which she incorporates as a soundscape for her images. This familiar sound bridges the physical distance between them, evoking childhood memories. These collaborations allow Mu to celebrate and maintain connections to her roots, creating a multisensory experience that is both personal and universal. Through photography and printmaking, she seeks to preserve these precious connections and memories, ensuring they remain vivid and alive.

Yuxiao Mu’s artistic path highlights the influence of cultural integration, meticulous discipline, and profound emotional insight. Her art encapsulates ephemeral moments, safeguarding memories and emotions from her distinctive viewpoint. As she ventures into new media and techniques, her creations are poised to deeply connect with audiences, offering an engaging experience that bridges cultural divides.