Mandy Wu: Wasted Youth
Born in Taipei, Taiwan.
24.02.2021
As both a visual artist and photographer, Mandy Wu seamlessly marries documentarist and cinematic themes in her work, constructing a very porous border between a general perceived reality and an illusory fantasy of Wu’s own making. Her first camera was a present from her father, the memory became a creative inflection point for her, reflexively influencing her future projects.
Wu’s desire to continuously preserve the memories in life, which otherwise fall prey to imperfect human memory, are plainly visible in the series Wasted Youth. A photographic rendition of the nightlife at a public art centre in Milan, the blurring of reality and fantasy becomes a testimony on the intimate relationship between experiences and identity. The photographs are distinctly personalised, inseparable from Wu’s state of mind. Wasted Youth is nothing if not personal. The psychedelic and dreamlike nature of the photos convey Wu’s emotions towards her environment and expertly crafts a narrative that rests comfortably outside the flow of time.
After finishing her BA in History at National Taiwan University, Mandy Wu decided to pursue her passion for photography by studying a MA in Photography and Visual Design in NABA Milano in Italy. Specializing in portrait, fashion and still photography, her work has been featured on Girlgaze, Sicky Mag, P Magazine, among others.