Cheng Yen Yu 余政諺
Overview
余政諺，1998 年生於臺灣屏東，2024 年獲英國皇家藝術學院繪畫碩士。其創作涵蓋繪畫、裝置與現成物，長期關注材料的本質與狀態，將各類物質視為時空沉澱與演變的載體，並致力於創造一種超越語言侷限、能跨越文化疆界的感知系統。2025 年曾赴希臘參與藝術家駐村計畫，作品展出足跡遍及英國、南非與臺灣。現工作與生活於倫敦。
余政諺擅長探索媒材最純粹的狀態，並將之與地域性的歷史、空間與哲學脈絡相互連結，形構出帶有「精神考古學」視角的視覺語境。他的繪畫以「物質繪畫（pintura matèrica）」為核心語彙，經常將植物等有機物與石膏、螺鈿、建築材料等非傳統元素融入創作，透過堆疊、覆蓋與解構，生成兼具厚度與張力的畫面結構。這些作品不僅承載記憶與經驗，更映照藝術家對於身份流動、歷史編碼與地理感知的深層思索。他在其中探討親密與疏離、存在與缺席、破碎與重構等議題，並嘗試建構一種帶有循環特質的能量封存。正如化石存儲遠古的生命痕跡，他的繪畫亦將被持續保存並不斷被重新詮釋，揭示宇宙、生命與人性之間的深刻連結，最終被提升至儀式性與精神性的層次。
Yu Cheng Yen, born in 1998 in Pingtung, Taiwan, earned his MA from the Royal College of Art in 2024. His practice spans painting, installation, and found objects, with a sustained focus on the essence and state of materials. He regards matter as a vessel of temporal sedimentation and transformation, striving to develop a perceptual system that transcends the limits of language and crosses cultural boundaries. In 2025, he participated in an artist residency in Greece, and his works have been exhibited in the UK, South Africa, and Taiwan. He currently lives and works in London.
Yu’s practice consistently investigates the pure state of materials, linking them to regional histories, spatial conditions, and philosophical dimensions to construct a visual language rooted in a perspective of “spiritual archaeology.” His painting vocabulary centers on pintura matèrica, frequently incorporating organic substances such as plants, alongside plaster, mother-of-pearl, and architectural materials. Through layering, covering, and deconstruction processes, he generates compositions with tactile density and visual tension. These works not only preserve memory and experience but also reflect the artist’s deep engagement with questions of identity, historical encoding, and geographical perception. Within them, he explores themes of intimacy and distance, presence and absence, fragmentation and reconstruction. His practice seeks to encapsulate energy with a cyclical quality — like fossils that preserve traces of ancient life, his paintings endure as repositories to be continually reinterpreted. In doing so, they reveal profound connections between the cosmos, life, and human nature, ultimately elevating them to a ritualistic and spiritual dimension.
Works
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Spiritual Fossils - Philosopher's Stone #6, 2025 -
Spiritual Fossils - Philosopher's Stone #1, 2025
Exhibitions
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Into the Fern Glow 拜訪暉蕨之森
Aug 15 - Oct 3, 2026大河美術很榮幸呈現群展《 Into the Fern Glow | 拜訪暉蕨之森 》。本展首次展開跨域合作項目，由大河策展團隊攜手香港獨立策展人林志恒 ( Jims Lam ) ，邀請臺灣藝術家王筱璦與余政諺、香港藝術家陳惠立、韓幸霖與蟻穎琳，以及中國藝術家廖雯與劉欣然，共同迎接 一種專屬於「 東亞濕潤文明的離線狀態 」: 在瀰漫濕氣的緩慢夢境中重新感應，並於紛亂的時代裡，回返一座清醒與恍惚之間的精神森林。Read more
RIVER ART GALLERY is pleased to present the group exhibition “Into the Fern Glow.” Marking the gallery’s first cross-regional collaborative project, the exhibition is organized by RIVER ART GALLERY’s curatorial team in collaboration with Hong Kong–based independent curator Jims Lam. It brings together Taiwanese artists Hsiao-Ai Wang and Cheng Yen Yu, Hong Kong artists Wai Lap Chan, Hilarie Hon, and Ngai Wing Lam Ant, as well as Chinese artists Liao Wen and Xinran Liu. Their works trace an “offline condition” specific to East Asian humid civilizational landscape: a state of renewed perception within a slow, moisture-laden dream, and a spiritual forest suspended between lucidity and reverie amid the turbulence of the present. -
Embers Underfoot
Sep 13 - Nov 8, 2025大河美術將舉辦聯展《Embers Underfoot》，邀請五位來自不同背景的藝術家，包含出生於香港的加拿大籍華裔藝術家陳康俊、加拿大藝術家 WinnieTruong、旅居英國的臺灣藝術家余政諺，以及分別活躍於德英兩國的中國藝術家張新顏與劉欣然。展覽以當前世界的劇變為切入點，聚焦人在不確定性中對信念與價值的堅持，並以「迷信」作為核心概念，進一步提出「迷信」並非狹義的盲信或荒誕，而是一 種文化與心理的產物——既是人類面對未知的本能回應，也是凝聚社群、傳承記憶的象徵性實踐。展覽嘗試跳脫負面語境，從文化、心理與象徵層面，重新探討「迷信」在當代社會中的存在價值。Read more
RIVER ART GALLERY will present the group exhibition “Embers Underfoot”, featuring five artists of diverse backgrounds: Hong Kong-born, Canadian artist Peter Hong-Tsun Chan; Canadian artist Winnie Truong; London-based Taiwanese artist Yu Cheng Yen; and Chinese artists Xinyan Zheng and Xinran Liu, active in Germany and the UK. Taking the upheavals of the contemporary world as a point of departure, the exhibition examines how humanity sustains beliefs and values amid uncertainty. Anchored in the concept of superstition, it reframes the term not as blind faith or irrationality, but as a cultural and psychological phenomenon—both a primal response to the unknown and an emblematic practice that unites communities and preserves memory. The exhibition aims to move beyond a negative framework, reconsidering superstition’s contemporary significance through cultural, psychological, and symbolic lenses.
