We recently sat down with Wen-Jen Deng one of the artists in residence at the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s House 17 on Governors Island and Ming Turner, curator of Wen-Jen’s art exhibit :The Embedded Stitch- Contemporary Fiber Art, which is currently showing at Tenri Cultural Institute until June 28th

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/a-conversation-with-wen-jen-deng-taiwanese-fiber-artist-and-curator-ming-turner-ep-314/

According to Deng’s curator Ming Turner, “Deng is a core member of the influential Taiwanese artist collective, Hantoo Art Group. Her early works were primarily oil paintings which incorporated embroidery and collage using traditional Taiwanese floral fabrics. Deng often draws inspiration from Taiwanese food culture— her earlier pieces explored the island’s distinctive betel nut culture, while more recent works have focused on everyday culinary traditions and the cultural heritage of the Sirayu Pingpu people.”

Special thanks to Ming Turner for translation assistance during this interview.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

• Wen-Jen’s upbringing in Taiwan and how she knew she wanted to be an artist

• What Wen-Jen thinks an artist’s role in the world is

• Why Wen-Jen studied art in France and how she was inspired by Marc Chagall

• How Wen-Jen started off doing oil painting as an artist

• How Wen-Jen switched from using oil paint as her medium to fiber and textiles

• How Wen-Jen worked in a textile shop making Chinese dresses while she was a student in France

• Why her early source of inspiration was food

• Her series of work that focused on lotus shoes and pig’s hooves (pigs feet), betel nuts, and other everyday Taiwanese cuisine

• How Wen-Jen discovered her mother’s was from the Siraya tribe during her 2017 residency at Soulangh Cultural Park in Tainan, and that inspired her to move her focus from food to indigenous culture

• How Wen-Jen learned indigenous weaving techniques

• How Wen-Jen’s mother was a seamstress but Wen-jen did not pick out any of those skills from her mother

• How Wen-Jen taught herself to embroider when she was working in the textile shop in France

• How all of the embroidery and sewing on Wen-Jen’s works are done by hand

• How in the process of weaving and embroidering Wen-Jen gets in a focused state of meditation

• The field work that Wen-Jen does related to her artwork

• Ming shared some of her thoughts on the significance of Wen-Jen’s artwork

• Wen-Jen’s artwork “Oyster Noodles” which will be on display at the TAAC Governors Island House 17

• How Taiwan’s transition from authoritarianism to democracy has impacted artists in Taiwan

• How artists in Taiwan get funded

• How Wen-Jen’s sculptural piece which is shaped like the island of Taiwan and shows its topography will be displayed at the TAAC House 17 on June 21

This past Sunday, May 26th we stopped by the annual Passport to Taiwan that’s held in New York City’s Union Square Park. The first Passport to Taiwan was held in 2002 and it’s become the largest outdoor Taiwanese American event in the entire United States.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/passport-to-taiwan-2025-ben-hedges-a-laowais-view-of-china-and-ambassador-lee-of-teco-ep-313/

While there I spoke with the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s (TAAC’s) Executive Director Luchia Meihua Lee, Ambassador Tom Lee of TECO-NY, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, and Ben Hedges, host of Lao Wai Kan Zhongguo also known as the A Laowai's View of China & Taiwan YouTube channel.

Passport to Taiwan is a celebration of Taiwanese art, culture, music, community, and of course food.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

· The Taiwanese American Arts Council’s (TAAC’s) house on Governors Island, House 17 is twice the size of last year’s house

· The theme of the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s (TAAC’s) House 17 on Governors Island is Eco Art on Island

· How the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s (TAAC’s) House 17 on Governors Island will be open from May 17 to November 2

· Ambassador Tom Lee mentioned this is the first time that TECO-NY (Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York) has had a booth at Passport to Taiwan

· Ben Hedges, host of the YouTube channel, Lao Wai Kan Zhongguo has emceed Hello Taiwan events

· How 7-11 stores in Taiwan sponsored travel videos on Lao Wai Kan Zhongguo’s YouTube channel

· How Ben will be relaunching the Lao Wai Kan Zhongguo’s YouTube channel

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/passport-to-taiwan-2025-ben-hedges-a-laowais-view-of-china-and-ambassador-lee-of-teco-ep-313/

Since May is both Mental Health Awareness Month and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we think it’s fitting to reshare this episode with Jane W. Wang.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/jane-w-wang-navigates-a-multicultural-heros-journey-classic-ep-312/

What we really appreciate about this interview with Jane back in 2021 is how she spoke so openly about how she dealt with her bouts of depression. She also shared how getting back in touch with her roots in Taiwan had a part in leading her to start her coaching practice. While she no longer offers the Multicultural Hero’s Journey course that she refers to in this episode, she is still actively coaching clients.

It’s our hope that Jane’s personal story can help destigmatize mental health and create more understanding about the coaching profession.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

• Jane’s connection to Taiwan

• How being a third culture kid (TCK) has shaped her identity and life purpose

• Her career path before becoming a coach

• Why she wanted to become a coach

• Her personal journey, the struggles and depression that she dealt with along the way before she became a coach

• Why she decided not to get a degree in counseling from Columbia University and instead got certified in coaching

• What is coaching and how it differs from counseling or psychotherapy

• Jane’s own experiences with coaching, being the person being coached by someone else

• Jane’s advice on how to pick a coach to work with

• The challenges Jane faced in becoming a coach

• The depression and imposter syndrome she experienced in the process of becoming a coach

• How Jane dealt with her self-judgment and learned to love herself

• How Jane dealt with three bouts of depression

• What she learned from going through depression

• How someone can identify whether or not they themselves or someone they know is experiencing depression

• How Jane created her Multicultural Hero’s Journey coaching program

• Who would benefit the most by going through the Multicultural Hero’s Journey coaching program

• Jane’s advice for people who are interested in becoming a coach

• What it takes to be a good coach

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/jane-w-wang-navigates-a-multicultural-heros-journey-classic-ep-312/