Yijia Wu (b. 1997, China) is a multidisciplinary artist based in London. Currently an artist in residence at the Sarabande Foundation. She graduated from Central Saint Martins with a BA in Fine Art in 2021 and completed her MA studies in Contemporary Art Practice at the Royal College of Art in 2023.
Wu's practice explores the everydayness, fluid notion of home, and both collective and individual experiences of migration. Through performance, sculpture, and installation, she utilises mundane, often domestic materials to create paradoxical situations for everyday life.
In her recent work, Wu delves into the cultural significance embedded within ordinary objects and materials. She reexamines the symbolic and cultural meanings associated with each medium and weaves a narrative that portrays her journey and the story of being a migrant while creating a language that is absurd yet familiar, nostalgic yet present.
EDUCATION:
2021-2023 MA Contemporary Art Practice, Royal College of Art
2017-2021 BA Fine Art (First Class Honours), Central Saint Martins
EXHIBITIONS:
UPCOMING EXHIBITION:
2026 Solo Show, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing, China
2025 Solo Show, Sarabande Foundation, London, UK
2025 Sincerely, Sarabande Foundation, London, UK
SELECTED EXHIBITION:
2025 House of Bandits x the Roof Garden, London, UK
2025 Danwei Unfolding, TANK, Shanghai, China
2025 Family Portrait, High Road Gallery, Sarabande Foundation, London, UK
2025 Glimpses of the Guest Room, Chilli Art Projects, London, UK
2025 Wild Uploaded, Prequel, the Handbag Factory - ASC Studio Gallery, London, UK
2025 Enosis, Apsara Studio, London, UK
2025 Manifesto, Shanghai Fashion Week, Shanghai, China
2025 Homesick, Sarabande Foundation, London, UK
2025 Selfridges x House of Bandits, Selfridges, London, UK
2024 Ceramics in the City, Museum of Home, London, UK
2024 The Poetics of Reverie, Yongfu 70, Shanghai, China
2024 Landless, The Bhavan, London, UK
2024 Wonderland, Filet, London, UK
2024 Manque, O bjet Petite ’a’, Greatorex Street, London, UK
2024 Roots in the Wind, Crum Heaven, Stockholm, Sweden
2024 Phoney, Gallery Lock In, Brighton, UK
2023 RCA Graduate Showcase, Truman Brewery, London, UK
2023 No Man’s Land, A.P.T. Gallery, London, UK
2023 The Coronation Concert, Windsor, UK
2023 Cosy Ganza, Avalon Cafe, London, UK
2023 Tate Late, Tate Modern, London, UK
2023 Beyond Surface, Montez Radio, London, UK
2022 CAPbaret, Groovy Theatre, London, UK
2022 Bon Voyage, Slash Art, London, UK
2022 Home / Away, The Bhavan, London, UK
2022 BODY ECSTATIC BODY ECLECTIC BODY ECCENTRIC, Ulay Foundation, Slovenia
2021 What Have We Done?, Lethaby Gallery, London, UK
2021 The Showreel Show, Stour Space, London, UK
2021 Cirque de Show, A travelling art extravaganza, UK
2020 Bodies of Water, The Dòng Gallery, Beijing, China
2020 Noting to do with Death, The Dòng Gallery, Beijing, China
2020 Elephant in the Room, The Dòng Gallery, Beijing, China
2020 What and Whatness, The Dòng Gallery, Beijing, China
2020 Sale, Tate Exchange, Tate Modern, London, UK
2019 Open Mouth Film Festival, TT Cinema, London, UK
2019 I Dance the Other, Studio Wayne McGregor, London, UK
2018 Young Modulus, The Crypt Gallery, London, UK
2018 ‘RAW’, Lethaby Gallery, London, UK
2018 Improvisation, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
2016 Small Change, Kings Cross, London, UK
2016 1-100, Pangolin Gallery, London, UK
RESIDENCY:
Sarabande Foundation Residency 2024-2025
AWARDS:
2021 NOVA Award 2021 (shortlisted)
2021 CASS Art Prize 2021 (shortlisted)
2021 Barry Martin Prize 2021 (Shortlisted)
COMMISSION:
2025 Creative History of Tottenham, National Lottery Heritage Fund
2025 Great West Gallery
2023 King’s Coronation Concert, Windsor Castle, Windsor, UK
COLLECTION:
2021 University of the Arts London Collections
ARTIST TALK AND WORKSHOP:
2025 ‘Homesick’ Panel Discussion, Sarabande Foundation
2025 Artist Talk, Wild Uploaded, Prequel, the Handbag Factory - ASC Studio Gallery, London, UK
2025 Domestic Relics: The Poetry of the Everyday, Sarabande Foundation, Hertford Road, London, UK
2025 Artist Crit, Sarabande Foundation, Tottenham, London, UK
PRESS AND INTERVIEW:
Insights of an Eco Artist, In conversation: Yijia Wu
https://www.insightsofayoungecologicalartist.com/features/in-conversation-yijia-wu
Art Daily, Poetic Alchemy: Yijia Wu Transforms the Everyday into Domestic Relics
FAD Magazine, ON YIJIA WU’S MATERIALITY OF TIME
https://fadmagazine.com/2025/06/16/on-yijia-wus-materiality-of-time/
Mula Zine, Poetry and Nomadic Living by Yijia Wu
https://mulazine.com/conversations/poetry-and-nomadic-living-by-yijia-wu/
Yijia Wu, Kings Coronation Concert Artwork
https://youtu.be/A9jUOHDE-mo?si=NqLmQ3Yv5SUElEE1
Yijia Wu, Homesick Exhibition