

YUJIA
MA
Women of Ma
(From 2024)
“ 女人是水做的。”
Inspired by a notion from Dream of the Red Chamber /
Story of the Stone /《红楼梦》,
where men are described as being shaped by earth —
and women by water...
We merged with hesitation and without much rehearsal —
into exposure and intimacy.
- from 2024 -
(From 2024)
Women of Ma is a bilingual project rooted in poetry and self-portraiture, documenting the transforming understandings we have of each other.
Inspired by Keisha Scarville and Katherine Hubbard, I invited the women of my family to make portraits of and by ourselves. Each collaboration took its own shape — my grandmother's quiet trust and small corrections; trading the camera back and forth with my cousin Yuxin; the arc of resistance, guilt, and surprise I felt toward my aunt Lingli's strong ideas. There is also space held for my late mother.
What I wanted, more than anything, was quality time. Year after year, I have yearned for their attention and to be understood by them — to invite them into my world of creating, not as intruders, but as guests. I wanted them to meet the artist Yujia, a sister to the Jiajia who ached many hearts.
- 2019 - ongoing -















