MACA will present the first institutional solo exhibition Liao Wen: Trust Fall by the artist Liao Wen, on view from March 22 through June 15, 2025, featuring her new sculptures and a site-specific installation that investigate the complex dynamics of friction or fusion between fluid identities and social systems.

"Trust fall" is a game of fear and trust. One person stands with their back to the group and falls backward, expecting to be caught by the others. The game is intended to amplify the sense of interdependence in moments of vulnerability to deepen mutual trust. Central to the exhibition is the eponymous installation Trust Fall (2023–2025), a representation of this game: the inclined human figure on the steel stage is restrained by a rope connected to its chest, suspended in a delicate balance within intense tension. Visitors are invited to climb the staircase or walk beneath the installation, shifting their identities and experiences in the act of moving.

The exploration of insecurity in the work stems from the artist's experience of relocation in recent years and her contemplation of social alienation, her concern for the living conditions of marginalized communities, as well as her reflections on the intersection of living spheres of different social communities. The exhibition space is designed to resemble an urban transit system, constructing specific temporary rules with turnstiles and barriers. The interactive sculpture Wanderer (2024-2025) sometimes blocks the path, acting as an obstacle as visitors move through the space. The possibility of detaching from the system, however, remains ever-present; whether to adhere to or transgress the established order is left for each participant to explore and decide.

The materials and forms in Liao Wen's works are deeply rooted in her training in puppet-making and performance. Similar to her previous works, the wooden sculptures in this exhibition are handcrafted and painted by the artist, with limewood as the medium of expression, endowing the inanimate humanoids with the tension inherent in human existence. Trust Fall continues Liao Wen's ongoing investigation into the theme of "liminality," examining how the "threshold body"—navigating between crisis and trust, harm and protection—achieves counterbalance and resistance. Through the exhibition, the artist recounts the experience of adaptation and rejection between individuals and their surroundings, while posing a question: Are our bodies and minds still confined within an established system?

Liao Wen: Trust Fall is curated by MACA Assistant Curator Chen Yindi and Associate Curator Wang Jianan.

About the Artist
 

Liao Wen

Liao Wen lives and works in Hong Kong. She received her MFA from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2019. Liao Wen's practice spans sculpture, performance, and video. Drawing inspiration from puppetry, anthropology of myths and rituals, medicine, and art history, she interrogates the social order, technology, and disciplining power projected onto the body. Both primordial and futuristic, her works depict the unsettling balance of the body in the liminal state and imagine future bodily possibilities. She has held solo exhibitions at Capsule Shanghai (Venice, 2024; Shanghai, 2021) and Cai Jin Space (Beijing, 2021). Her work has been featured in group exhibitions at Guangdong Times Museum (Guangzhou, 2024); The First Trans-Southeast Asia Triennial (Guangzhou, 2023); Cassina Projects (Milan, 2023); François Ghebaly Gallery (Los Angeles, 2022); OCAT Biennale 2021 (Shenzhen, 2021), among others. She was awarded the Frieze New York Stand prize in 2023 and was a finalist artist for the Ducato Prize in 2023. Her works have been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Art in America, The Art Newspaper China, and ArtReview. She has been selected to be the resident of Pro Helvetia in Switzerland in 2025.

 

About the Curators

Chen Yindi

Chen Yindi is the Assistant Curator and Researcher at MACA. Her research explores how nature has been seen and represented in different cultures, especially in relation to the intersections of mythologies and queer ecology. She has curated exhibitions at Yamanaka Suplex (Osaka), Subtitled (New York), Tutu Gallery (New York) and among others. Yindi has contributed writings to The Art Newspaper China, ArtReview, Whitehot Magazine, Cultbytes, C-print Journal, etc. She received her M.A. from the School of Visual Arts, New York, and her B.A. from the University of York, UK.

 

Wang Jianan

Wang Jianan is the Associate Curator and Researcher at MACA.