Yaning Xing MFA Exhibition: Measurement of Wellbeing

Consisting of sculptural elements and paintings, Measurement of Wellbeing is an inquiry the social conditions that compel Chinese women to fulfil a double role—wives, mothers, and housekeeprs, and productive wage laborers. The title comes from Irene van Staveren’s economic feminist paper, “Measurement of Well-Being" (2021), which has inspired me to ask what metrics define “the good life” for those at the bottom of a capitalist, patriarchal society.

The exhibition is inspired in part by my own mother's navigation of this double hardship—her disappointments and frustrations, but also the resiliance and wisdom she, and women like her, discovered when managing their homes, finances, and time. By interpreting and restaging these women's reproductive labor in the art form, the exhibition celebrates the hard work of womanhood.