Yu-Sheng Chiu (b.1999) is a Taiwanese artist living in Ottawa, Canada. Her lens-based practice focuses on the isolation she experienced as a Southeast-Asian woman who spent her teenage years alone in the West trying to find where she belongs. Notions of aloneness and solitude inform her examination of human forms and landscape as well as the idea of creating hospitable, home-like spaces to exist within while also addressing the obscure relationship between self and sexuality. Using medium format black and white film with an intuitive approach, she enhances her predominantly analog practice by also including multi-disciplinary elements.
Chiu's works are held in private collections, as well as physical and virtual exhibitions at Mount Allison University (2021), SPAO Centre (2021, 2022, 2023), Analog Forever Magazine (2022), Do It For The Grain (2022, 2023), University of Ottawa (2024), Urban Art Collective (2024), Amashowza (2024), Gallery 115 (2024), Lomography (2024), St. Laurent Centre (2025), and Toronto Outdoor Art Fair (upcoming, 2025) while the list continues to grow. She also interviewed for uOttawa's Women and Media course (2022) which was used for teaching purposes for their BFA program's 4000 level courses.
During her years studying at Mount Allison University, SPAO Centre, and University of Ottawa, Chiu has gained experiences working with medium format, 4x5, and DSLR cameras. Her instagram account under the handle @yclaformosana will continue to be the platform where she shares in-progress work during this journey to fulfilling her purpose as an artist.
“Yu-Sheng’s work is conceptually rich, visually compelling, and technically accomplished. She is a photographer whose practice is continuously evolving, and I have no doubt that she will make significant contributions to contemporary photography.”-- Lorraine Gilbert.