Photo by Ian Hart
Maxine Leu is an interdisciplinary artist, art educator, and environmentalist from Taiwan. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Tainan University of Technology (TUT), Tainan, Taiwan and her Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Her work focuses on the environment, communication, and identity. Leu’s work was exhibited at a number of venues including The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany in 2021; Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, New York, USA in 2020; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan in 2018; National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei, Taiwan in 2014; PingTung Art Museum, PingTung, Taiwan in 2013.
In 2015, Leu came to New York from Taiwan and became interested in the cultural differences between Western and Eastern cultures. She has been promoting workshops about upcycling and recycling that have been inspired by concerns over global warming, waste production, and other environmental issues. One of her popular works, Plady made up of 300 woven plastic bags and resembles a mummy, has participated in cooperative performances such as The Bags, The Earth Action- Two Hour Collection, Global Climate Strike,The Story of Water and EarthFest since 2019. Starting in 2022, Leu is the initiator and producer of The Annual Eco Arts Week at The D.R.A.W, her goal is to bring the community together through art and raise public environmental awareness.