Dirk Tsai (b. 1994, Taiwan) interrogates queer materiality and the fluidity of identity through an artistic practice that explores how the body—when subjected to institutional discipline—manifests an unstable state of perception through environmental displacement, dismantling, and reassembling. His work examines how bodily states move, pause, and locate themselves through constant, visceral interaction with their surroundings.
Drawing upon Sara Ahmed’s Queer Phenomenology, Tsai conceptualizes his creative process as a trajectory of bodily orientation, displacement, and redefinition. Tsai translates these somatic transitions through the anatomical materiality of painting: canvas as skin, stretcher bars as skeleton, and pigment as blood, unified into a fluid soul. Through processes of assemblage, dislocation, and extension, his forms emerge, rupturing fixed perspectives. These configurations bear the sedimented layers of past and present experiences, reenacting the formation of direction and the construction of meaning through difference, while deliberately remaining in a vulnerable, unfinished state.
Tsai's practice navigates the liminal spaces between painting, sculpture, and conceptual installation. He holds an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London (2023). He was honoured as a Made In Taiwan (MIT) Emerging Artist Awardee by the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan (2024), and he was recently longlisted for the prestigious Aesthetica Art Prize in the United Kingdom (2026). The Chelsea Arts Club Trust has supported his research- driven approach to material infrastructure and temporal flux through the MA Materials and Research Award (2022)
｜EDUCATION｜
2023 MA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London, London, UK
｜SOLO EXHIBITION｜
2025 ・Unnamed Shapes, Lan Art Centre, Hangzhou, China
・Whispering Hues, Vine Gallery, Hsinchu, Taiwan
2024 ・ART TAIPEI 2024, Taipei World Trade Centre Hall 1, Taipei, Taiwan
｜GROUP EXHIBITION｜
2026 ・ROAR - Rhapsody of August Riot (Upcoming), Mall Galleries, London, UK
・Traces of Force (Upcoming), Gallery 456, New York Asian Design Week, New York, USA
・TAI Art Festival in Asia New Bay Area, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2025 ・The Blooming Dartemoor, LIAN Gallery, Hangzhou, China
・Natural World, Chelsea Art Club, London, UK
・Art Future 2025, Grand Hyatt, Taipei, Taiwan
2024 ・29th DA DUN Fine Arts Exhibition, Dadun Culture Centre, Taichung, Taiwan
・Table Fable, Salisbury House, London, UK
・Echoes of Entanglement, L’ART, London, UK
・A Conversation with Water, Hypha Studios Stratford, London, UK
2023 ・Emerging Artist Exhibition, TEAM LEWIS Foundation, London, UK
・The Hidden Manifesto, Gallery 46, London, UK
・Drunk, The Grosvenor Pub, London, UK
・Whatcha Lookin Art?, Cookhouse Gallery, London, UK
・Little Show, Cookhouse Gallery, London, UK
2022 ・Who Are You - The Evolution of Identity in Britain, Triangle Gallery, London, UK・XYZ, Cookhouse Gallery, London, UK
・Between Paper and a Place, Lungley Gallery, London, UK
・As SLATE, Triangle Gallery, London, UK
・I’M IN IT, SafeHouse Gallery, London, UK
・Nexus, Triangle Gallery, London, UK
2021 ・Solstice, Triangle Gallery, London, UK
｜HONORS / AWARDS｜
2026 ・Longlisted (Painting Section), Aesthetica Art Prize, UK
2025 ・Artist in Residence, LIAN Gallery, Hangzhou, China
2024 ・Made In Taiwan (MIT) - Emerging Artist Awardee, Ministry of Culture, Taiwan
・Shortlisted (Sculpture Section), The 29th Da Dun Fine Arts Exhibition, Taichung, Taiwan
2022 ・MA Materials and Research Award, Chelsea Arts Club Trust, London, UK
｜PUBLICATION｜
2026 ・SKYLINE, Barbagelata Contemporary Art Foundation, Spain
2024 ・The 29th Dadun Fine Arts Exhibition Catalogue, “Petrichor I”, Cultural Affairs Bureau Taichung City Government, Taiwan
｜MEDIA FEATURES｜
2026 ・TV Solo Interview, METAVERSE ARTS, “From Canvas to Sculpture: Silent Chromatic in Flux“, Episode 289
2025 ・ART EMPEROR, Tsai Ya-Ke — Whispering Hues: Painting as Regenerative Light between Flux and Perception, Vine The Art Gallery, October 22
2024 ・Prestige Magazine, MIT Emerging Artists: Tsai Ya-Ke — Interdisciplinary Practice between Painting and Sculpture, Lynn Tan, October 08
・DPI Magazine, Dirk Tsai: Reframing Frameworks — Installation Practice Exploring Memory and Temporal Flux, Greta Chen, November 25
・Ministry of Culture (Taiwan) Official Feature, “Made in Taiwan Emerging Artist Program (MIT New Talents Showcase)”, September 20
・Podcast Interview, ART TAIPEI Live Talk, “Across Boundaries: Coastal Lines and Gender Fluidity in Art Practice”, S5E9
｜LECTURES / SYMPOSIUMS｜
2025 ・Visiting Artist Lecture; “Beyond the Canvas: A Journey as an Artist”, Shenzhen Hong Kong Pui Kiu College Longhua Xinyi School, China