Migration in Dialgoue – Yuri Yuan
Studio portrait of Yuri Yuan. Photo by Shuyao Chen. Courtesy of the artist.
In her emotionally charged paintings, Yuri Yuan (b. Harbin, China in 1996) depicts familiar landscapes and domestic interiors that evoke a sense of distance and isolation. As part of IMPULSE’s interview series, Migration in Dialogue, Yuan speaks with Jenny Wang about her unexpected O1 application process.
JW: How many years have you spent outside your home country/been in the US? What kind(s) of visa have you been on? Are you planning to stay?
YY: I was born in China and grew up in Singapore. I've been living outside of China for 16 years, among which nine years were in the US. I came here first on an F1 student visa for my undergrad at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Then I did my MFA at Columbia University. I currently hold an O1 artist visa and plan to keep working as an artist here.
JW: Can you walk me through your O1 timeline? Was it similar to what you expected?
YY: I started thinking about getting this visa in undergrad. I knew I had to go to grad school; otherwise the chance of getting an O1 is very low. If I didn't have to do the O1 visa, I would have probably taken more years between undergrad and grad school. We had only one regular semester of grad school before COVID hit. There was an atmosphere of grief and uncertainty. In retrospect, however, the silver lining was that I was alone in my apartment and had a lot of downtime to just focus on reading and painting. It was actually a very productive year. After grad school, I participated in shows and got more press, so I never imagined there would be any problem with my application.
The application process was definitely not like the way I imagined it. I was hit with the Request for Evidence (RFE) and was, of course, very devastated. It means the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) could deny my application. I'd have to leave the country on a very short notice. Until that point, I never actually pictured the logistics of relocating. I didn't know how – I remember I was showering and saw my family-size shampoo in a 1L bottle. I started thinking: “If I have to leave in two weeks, do I throw this shampoo away? It's pretty expensive. Should I give it to my friends?” My floor lamp broke, and I didn’t replace it because I thought I might have to leave – there's no point in having this lamp fixed now. I even started thinking about who's going to inherit all of my plants. I was so stressed out and felt so much anxiety. And the anxiety is not just when you are applying for the O1, but preparing for it, even when you're in school. You have this worry over you: You only have one year of OPT to build up enough experience to convince USCIS; you need to have shows, you need to have press, you need to build professional relationships to get letters of recommendation.
I was financially supporting myself and my family too. Relocating means I would have no income, and the income of my family would be severely impacted. I had a teaching job lined up, so getting the O1 approved meant I could then work and get paid. I was single at the time and didn't even go on dates for half a year because of all this uncertainty looming over me. It was almost like: What’s the point if I have to leave next month? It was hard for me to think of anything else that’s not related to the visa.
I remember that right after I got my O1, I ordered a TV because it’s like, I can finally have my own property, knowing that I’m going to stay at a place long-term. You know how a lot of international students’ homes look like showrooms at Target and IKEA? It’s because we don't know for how long we are going to be here. A $20 lamp is good enough.
Yuri Yuan, The Phantom of Memories (2023). Oil on linen, 60 x 48 in. Photo by Daniel Greer. Courtesy of the artist.
JW: What did you do after getting the RFE?
YY: For two months, I was just reaching out to people and asking for more recommendation letters. I also submitted more evidence for press. I was also talking to my lawyer and thinking about where I would relocate. After a little bit, I started to accept the possibility of moving. Berlin was one of the first places that came to mind, because they have a more welcoming policy for the artist visa. I also think that as long as you are a talent, any country will want you. I'm going to build up my career. That's the number one thing and my motivation.
There’s really no way of knowing why I got the RFE. At first, I thought it was because of my passport and US-China relations. However, some of my friends who got the RFE held passports from different countries. I remember just talking to them on the phone and crying. At the end of the day, everyone's case is so different. Some people's countries were at war. Some people were from countries that frown upon women over 30 who are single and unmarried. Other people's home countries don’t have an active art scene. In that way, I consider myself fortunate enough. Even if I were to go back to China or Singapore, there would be a place for me as an artist.
Yuri Yuan. Sketchbook (2023). Oil on linen, 48 x 60 in. Photo by Daniel Greer. Courtesy of the artist.
JW: What are some challenges you encountered when preparing for the visa? What advice would you give to those navigating the same process?
YY: I found it really hard to balance the need to build your CV while also being selective with whom you work. I still wanted to protect myself from being overexposed in the art world. I had to turn down some shows, even though I knew they were going to add another line to my CV. But I'm glad I got so much support from my peers and colleagues.
For anyone navigating the same process, I understand it's very difficult to turn down opportunities, especially when you have that anxiety and stress. I still would not recommend working with just anyone who offers you a show. Over the years, I've seen a lot of opportunist or predatory dealers offering people shows, but a few years down the road, it comes around and backfires. They could have sold the work on a secondary market, or they might be terrible people to work with, doing shady business. Sometimes they go after younger artists who really want their first solo show. I definitely understand the pressure, but if I were in the same shoes, I would turn it down. I'd rather just take a few years off to work in a different country and then come back to the US. Some MFA programs try to convince you that you are going to be a hot shot right after grad school … you are going to be this hot young thing in the New York art world. It's not necessarily true – sometimes you need to take time and make the work you need to make.
It’s important to think in the long term because 1/ you may still get a visa without working with shady people, and 2/ even if you don't get a visa, it's not the end of the world. Life is very long. Your long-term art career is more important than the visa. I’d prioritize the quality of your work and be very, very cautious about who you work with. You can never be too cautious.
Yuri Yuan. Eight Thousand Layers (2023). Oil on linen, 60 x 48 in. Photo by Daniel Greer. Courtesy of the artist.
JW: What would you tell your younger self?
YY: If I could talk to my younger self (she probably wouldn’t listen), I’d tell her to not worry too much. At the end of the day, everything is going to work out. I regret spending so much time just worrying, and feeling as if I didn’t really enjoy my life for four or five years. I didn't really have a life outside of the studio. I wish I had taken better care of myself in those years.
JW: Does/will the 2024 presidential election affect your feelings about living in the US?
YY: I think the election will affect everyone's life, so I pay close attention to the immigration policies outlined by the two candidates. But my hesitations are: 1/ I can't actually vote, and 2/ immigration policy is not the only part that I will be paying attention to. There are also matters like women's rights and gender rights, which I relate to on a human level, not just as an artist.
Yuri Yuan. When the Time Comes (2022). Oil on linen, 60 x 48 in. Photo by Daniel Greer. Courtesy of the artist.
JW: Is there anything you’d like to add?
YY: I think immigration relates to me in the way it shows up in my work – not that I'm painting about immigration policies, but I'm painting about the sense of loneliness and anxiety of relocating from place to place: from China to Singapore, from Singapore to the US. The feeling that I'm always drifting around like a ship traveling between islands. The internal reflection in my work can be very political, but it doesn’t have to be. Immigrants have their visa problems, but someone else may have a different problem. I hope my work can be a very open space for anyone to relate to emotionally, be it the sense of distance, grief, or longing.
The interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
Yuri Yuan is currently an artist-in-residence at Silver Art Projects. Her work will be on view at Frieze London, 2024.
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