Biography

→ CV

SU YANG (b. China) calls herself a feminist. Her research examines the social, cultural, and political ideologies that shape “ideal female beauty” and their impact on women’s identity, representation, and artistic production. Through painting, photography, video, and film, her work challenges patriarchal aesthetics in contemporary Chinese art and culture by critiquing the tendency in Chinese art criticism to confine women’s artistic contributions within a decorative framework. Her artistic practice explores feminism through projects that examine distinct yet interrelated themes, including cosmetic surgery, identity, female representation, LGBTQ+ issues, and maternity and care.

SU YANG holds a Ph.D. in Visual, Asian cultural, and Gender Studies from the University of Melbourne (2019), a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the State University of New York at Buffalo (2014), and a Bachelor of Arts in Design from Tsinghua University (2010). She is currently an Assistant Professor in the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas in the United States.

SU YANG’s projects have been screened and exhibited internationally at venues such as SBS (Australia’s major broadcaster), the Melbourne International Film Festival, St Kilda Film Festival, the Victorian Pride Centre Theatrette, Federation Square Big Screen, the University of Melbourne, Lion Arts Centre, and ACMI cinemas (Australia); the Rhode Island International Film Festival, Anderson Gallery (New York), Houston Public Library, and Texas A&M University (Texas) (United States); OCAD University Art Museum and Toronto Reference Library (Canada); Shanghai M50 Creative Park (China); and La Muestra de Video Arte Faenza Screening (Colombia). My film projects have won the Melbourne International Film Festival Powershorts Short Film Competition and the People of Color International Cultural Exchange in New York. I have also received the 11th Prospect Portrait Prize People’s Choice Award.

SU YANG has been invited as a guest speaker and presented her art practice-led research at academic conferences at elite universities and prestigious galleries in Australia and Canada including the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Ontario College of Art & Design University in Canada, Tsinghua University in China, University of Melbourne, Australian National University, University of Western Australia, Monash University, and University of Queensland in Australia. She has published her article “Feminist Aesthetics: Representing Women in Contemporary Chinese Art” in a peer-reviewed journal article as the only author in the Journal of Arts Writing by Students.

The attention she received from the media can label her work as significant. Dr. YANG’s exhibitions have been extensively reviewed in the major Chinese media, including China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Arton, Art China, Sohu, Tourism and Photography Magazine, Tsinghua University, and Phoenix New Media in Hong Kong. Internationally, her artwork has been noticed and reviewed by NÜVOICES [Feminist Voice], Neo Cha Culture & Creativity in Asia, State University of New York at Buffalo and Les Femmes Folles Women in Art in the US, Feminist Art Collective in Canada, Art Baazar in Europe, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Yarra City Arts, and Creative Brimbank in Australia.

Yang has been the recipient of grants from the 11th Prospect Portrait Prize People’s Choice Award in South Australia, the City of Yarra Community Grant in Melbourne, and the Asian Studies Association of Australia. Her experimental film BEAUTY won the People of Color International Cultural Exchange in New York in 2020 and Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF)’s Powershorts Short Film Competition in 2017.