Weiting Wei

Weiting Wei received her MFA in visual art from Columbus College of Art&Design in 2018. She is a multimedia artist creating works out of paper, wax, clay, and soap.

In her work, the paper lotus is inspired by the lotus pods without seeds. It brings forth a feeling of being left out. These empty lotus pods reference the experience with postnatal depression. The wax is wrapped around the rice paper like a field for defense; it seems hard but fragile. The multiple sizes and the organic shapes of the work represent the fluctuating moods of a new mom.

Other aspects of her work include the use of white porcelain to represent pregnancy, and the use of tinct rice paper to represent the muscle state around the cesarean incision. Her sculpture uses traditional elements to explore very personal, yet universal, experiences of motherhood.


"I consider my main role is to act as a mother and second as an artist. During my first art project, I experienced an important life stage from pregnancy, giving birth to a baby, to becoming a nursing mom. I took this experience as the main background of my artwork, as well as the soul of my works.

One of my works - inspired by the empty lotus pods without seeds - I named “Lost”. I used rice paper and soy wax for the materials. Rice paper and lotus are very organic objects which are born in the soil and attributed to the soil. The wax is wrapped around the rice paper like a field of defense, it seems bard but fragile. Just like every new mother’s mental state - it looks strong but it is actually sensitive. The completion of the whole piece took almost 10 months. It resembles the long process of pregnancy.

I experienced a hard time after giving birth to my baby. When I put my sleeping baby into his crib and would sit down for lunch, I began to cry because the food in my mouth had already become cold. A voice, color, even an action would turn me into a bad mood. However, in order to take care of the baby, I had to persist. That is why I used around 300 pieces of multiple-sized empty lotus and the organic forms for my works to represent the fluctuating moods of a new mom."

Website: www.weitingwei.com
IG: @bellaweiting