Opening: Lu Wei: Entering Into the Serpent

On view: May 2–July 13, 2025
Opening reception: May 2, 6:00–9:00pm

Ogden Contemporary Arts is pleased to partner with Material to present Lu Wei: Entering Into the Serpent.

Lu Wei’s art, which spans ink paintings, bound books, installations, and videos, is a deep exploration of feminine thought and the intimate experiences of motherhood. Beyond cultivating the tradition of ink painting techniques, her works challenge traditional interpretations of female and mother figures in ink art. She reinterprets goddesses, animals, and landscapes to reflect the complexities of women’s bodies, experiences, and identities.

In the exhibition Entering into the Serpent, Lu Wei explores the darker creative powers of women and mother figures. For the past two years, she has turned her attention to indigenous cultures in the American Southwest and Mexico, focusing on their connection to concepts of land and bridging them to ink painting’s cosmology. She has been inspired by Chicana feminist Gloria Anzaldúa’s work Borderlands / La Frontera, in which the Serpent is a powerful symbol of femininity, the body, the earth, fertility, healing, death, and rebirth. Lu Wei’s works foreground feminine power, embracing what has often been characterized as the “dark” or “wild” side of women and exploring the intersection of spirituality, story, and identity. By using the “Serpent” as a metaphor for feminine space, the exhibition invites the audience to enter its complex aesthetic and possibilities.

Lu Wei: Entering into the Serpent is curated by Material and made possible in part by the generous support of the Ministry of Culture in Taiwan and the Taiwan National Culture and Arts Foundation.

Major funding for this exhibition is also provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Utah Division of Arts & Museums, George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, Ogden Arts, Rocky Mountain Power, and the Utah Office of Tourism.