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Occupation: Artist | Wen Gum Gum on Consequence-Free Play and Creative Continuity
Studio Interview by Cacao Magazine
Perhaps it was because of the paintings. In them, all kinds of legs appear, strong, fleshy, playful yet competitive. Desire swells and advances, then retreats. Under wen gum gum’s careful orchestration, everything seems ready to push beyond the flat surface, as if declaring that this is not a happy ending.
One imagines a single paintbrush, slender and stained, resting in a corner, waiting for the next round of release. Instead, the studio is orderly and clean, filled with the warmth of daily life. If not for the scattered brushes and tools gathered neatly to one side, one might mistake it for a café rather than the battlefield where an artist works every day.
wen gum gum
She pours herself another cup of hot tea, easing the chill in the air, and sits in her favorite chair. The atmosphere feels like a reunion between old friends. Renewal seems to describe her well. When she finally speaks, her tone is light yet deeply sincere. “The greatest fortune is to be an artist.”
There is no need to shake off the weight of 2025. The year brought more than she expected. “2025 was crucial. I had a solo exhibition. I traveled to Paris and London and saw the work of artists my own age. I felt envious, but I no longer thought I was not good enough. I know now that I am mature. I do not mind being seen. I even hope people might use me as a lens through which to see the world.”
That same year, she presented her solo exhibition Mind the Mindless at Yáo in Taichung. It was an exhibition that exhausted her. “Looking back, it was because I was clearer than ever about what I wanted to address. The responses increased. It was the most complete solo show I have ever done, in terms of spatial planning and personal investment. It was deeply instructive.” She recalls a woman who often passed by the venue and stopped in to borrow the restroom. She glanced at the paintings and said directly that she loved them. She could immediately recognize the way women sometimes act wild and sometimes mischievous. The moment stayed with her.
Each Time, to Begin Again
wen gum gum grew up in a family that loved art. Traveling between cities to see exhibitions was routine. Even now she can speak with her father about painting and practice. Since attending an art program in junior high school, becoming a full time artist has remained her goal. While exploring painting, image making, and video, she also expressed herself through T shirt design and zines.
In 2016 and 2017, while studying at the Department of Fine Arts at Taipei National University of the Arts, a period of depression arrived. “At the time, painting felt unnatural. It was difficult to talk about. My 2017 solo exhibition The Love Mirage received a muted response.”
She stopped painting and shifted her energy to video and independent publications. Around the same time, she began observing mainstream pornography. “I could not understand those films. I did not know who they were made for. The only videos I could understand were of young women in swimsuits bouncing on inflatable pool floats.” The persistent male gaze troubled her. The women smiled sweetly, yet something felt absent. She began to question whether a porn star must be beautiful, and what beauty means.
In 2016, Taiwan experienced a turning point as social, political, and gender issues intersected with new intensity. She recalls how Tsai Ing-Wen, then a presidential candidate, was scrutinized for her clothing in a way male candidates were not. Years later, in her solo exhibition Of Mice and Women, she revisited this observation and referenced Mary Beard’s research on why female leaders often choose tailored suits. An image of Angela Merkel shaking hands with Margaret Thatcher struck her. Their attire was strikingly similar. For her, it became an entry point into studying such images.
A Lifetime Entwined with Discomfort
Mary Beard has argued that misogyny persists into modern times and that few women escape it. To avoid being disliked often requires performance. wen gum gum once wore very long, conventionally feminine hair.
“In high school I tried to become a youthful schoolgirl. I had long straight hair and wanted to fit in. I was unhappy. When I entered university, I cut it off.” Friends laugh at those old photos now, asking who she was trying to be. She laughs too. It has become a distant story.
In 2020, she searched online for images of three women without torsos. What began as a casual search for meme like images evolved into something else. “The distorted bodies stayed in my mind like ghosts, so I painted them.” During this period she focused on the strange spectacle of bodiless female figures. They performed circus acts, stacked themselves in playful formations, or simply existed in their oddness. She created them and watched them closely.
After painting many bodiless women, she realized she could not simply borrow unusual bodies to discuss their strangeness. “I felt disconnected from them. I could not just use strange bodies to talk about strangeness. So I tried to move closer to their inner lives.” She introduced fluorescent green tones and shifted toward more intimate scenes. In art history, two women lying together in bed are often described as close friends. She found such readings too quick. She selected these images and repainted them, pushing the bodiless women toward subtler psychological states.
Gradually, these women claimed their right to pleasure. When unhappy, they no longer forced smiles. wen gum gum moved beyond surface agitation and irony into deeper relationships that contain strength, vulnerability, absurdity, and truth, states that repel and permeate each other.
It allows one to breathe more fully.
“Creation is not about giving answers. It is about preserving feelings and continuing to think.” Her work holds everything she contains, and in turn offers viewers a sense of being carefully held.
On Daily Life
Q: Describe a typical day.
wen gum gum: I begin administrative work around ten in the morning and continue until about four in the afternoon. Before four I focus on mental tasks such as research, translation, and reading. After that I move to physical work like preparing canvases and painting. Meetings are sometimes mixed in. Around ten at night I go to the gym and run until after midnight. When I return home I think freely, sometimes work overtime. My sleep schedule is irregular.
Q: Name three books that matter to you.
wen gum gum: Against Interpretation and Other Essays by Susan Sontag. it's the caffeine dancing by Peace Wong. I am currently reading Wonder Women: Ni muses, ni modèles: artistes! by R. Cotentin.
Q: What was your most recent profound self conversation about?
wen gum gum: I am always writing notes to myself on my computer or phone. Sometimes I speak with ChatGPT.
In October 2025, at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, she saw the Duchamp Prize winner Xie Lei’s Falling series. In London, at Thaddaeus Ropac, she saw Eva Helene Pade’s exhibition Søgelys. These experiences prompted her to reflect on embodied painting and her own practice.
Interview by Lin Pu-Chun
Photography by Cheng Man-Tzu
Videography by Chung Shang-Ting
- Cacao Magazine, Interview https://cacaomag.co/wengumgum/
- English translation by wen gum gum, for use on the artist’s personal website only.