Yijun Liao, raised in Shanghai, China, is an artist currently residing in Brooklyn, NY. Yijun is a recipient of NYFA Fellowship, En Foco’s New Works Fellowship and was a selected winner of LensCulture Exposure Awards and Magenta’s Flash Forward Award. She was a Honorable Mentionee of New York Photo Awards and a finalist of ITS Photo Award. Yijun is currently a darkroom resident at Camera Club of New York. She has done artist residencies at Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Workspace program and Woodstock AIR program at CPW. She also holds a MFA in photography from University of Memphis. Today we featue Yijun’s series, Memphis, Tennessee.
Untitled (woman), 2008
Shear Envy, 2008
Memphis, Tennessee (2006-2008)
In 2005, my first adventure outside of China took me to Memphis, Tennessee, where I lived for three and a half years. I went to Memphis without the least idea of what it is like. I now think that I was super lucky in choosing Memphis as my destination among a long list of unfamiliar American city names. Memphis has a unique beauty that is untouched by time. It allowed me to have a glimpse of the city from the past and fueled my imagination of an America of another time. It occurs to me later that my vision today is deeply influenced by the landscape of Memphis. To me, this group of photos is more like a diary both visually and emotionally.
Stop, 2008
Untitled (man), 2008
Dry Cleaning, 2008
Lorraine Motel, 2008
30% OFF, 2008
Disco, 2008
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, 2008
Think God, 2007
Office, 2008
China Doll, 2007
Additionally, Liao’s photographs have been exhibited internationally, including Arario Gallery (NY), kunst licht Gallery (China), VT Artsalon (Taiwan), Kips Gallery (Korea), The Running Horse Contemporary Art Space (Lebanon), NordArt (Germany), Pingyao International Photography Fest (China.)
To view more of Yijun’s work please visit her website.