Frida Jiaying Chen, R0060548.jpg: Memoirs of Dagongmei, mixed media installation, 2025. Image courtesy of the artist.

Frida Jiaying Chen

Artist / Fall 2026

Biography

Frida Jiaying Chen is a Montréal-based artist who blends writing, video, sound, and textile. With a background in contemporary art theory (Goldsmiths, University of London), she left PhD studies in art history (Université de Montréal) to focus fully on her art practice. In her work, she engages with urban migration, everyday archives, and worker literature in Shenzhen, as seen in her recent projects A Story about Yamaguchi Boy and Memoirs of Dagongmei. As a Cantonese artist, she is currently researching maritime cultures, seafaring history, and waterscapes in southeast China and Southeast Asia, seeking an alternative framework that rethinks history from land to sea.