Yunfei Ren (“yoon-fay”, he/him) works across painting, installation, and photography, constructing temporal portals that collapse the boundaries between past and present. His practice engages with history, language, and global migration, mapping cycles of movement, regeneration, and recurrence. Through the interplay of images and materials, Ren’s work explores the reverberations of memory and the circulation of histories across time. His work has been exhibited at The Guardhouse at Fort Mason (2024), de Young Museum (2023, 2020), Stanford University (2022), and the Chinese Historical Society Museum (2021), and has been featured in The Washington Post.
hub/spoke
hub/spoke maps the trajectories of migration, reflecting the emotional and psychological transformations individuals experience as they navigate new cultures and environments. The intricate web of paths reveals a subtle interplay between global mobility and the evolving contours of personal identity. This visual mapping invites contemplation on the transient and fluid nature of selfhood, reflecting the broader, cyclical patterns of migration, where the movement of bodies and the reformation of identity are forever entwined in a process of constant negotiation, regeneration, and flux.
Photograph: 50x50'' | Inkjet print
Installation: 9x9ft | Threads, golden nails
Photograph:
Installation detail views:
VIOLET DISPOSITION
Violet Disposition reflects on how layers of identity accumulate and interact, much like sedimentation, where deeper histories break through to the surface. The title, Violet Disposition, evokes the interplay of red, white, and blue—colors that symbolize the responsibility and complicity inherent in becoming a U.S. citizen. In this work, the artist explores the continuous process of negotiation between personal history, geography, and national identity, suggesting that identity is never fixed, but in constant flux, shaped by both external forces and internal reckonings.
30''x40'' | Acrylic, oil pastel, gouache on canvas
Yunfei Ren | All Rights Reserved