NEW YORK, NY.- CHINCHINART and Chinese American Arts Council/Gallery 456 is pleased to present A Lure, A Lament on view from January 16, 2026, through January 30, 2026, celebrated with an opening reception on Friday January 16, 2026 from 6 – 8 PM. Curated by Weifan Mo and Shuhan Zhang, the exhibition features artists Mosaz Zijun Zhao, I Chin Sung, and Yike Li to explore alternative feminist narratives of ghosts, haunting, and spectral presence.
Installation view of A Lure, A Lament at Gallery 456 in New York. Photo by Katherine Ma.
Installation view of A Lure, A Lament at Gallery 456 in New York. Photo by Katherine Ma.
The Chinese ‘gui’ [鬼] embodies a distinct aura that often eludes translation. Within the grip of ‘gui’, spirits and ghosts do not isolate into a transcendental alternative land. They are not merely uncanny dead, or omnipotent immortal, but ancestral presences woven into peculiar geographies, rituals, and lifeways. ‘Gui’ coexists with living human beings. It’s the extraordinary that birthed and mutated from the ordinaries. They are the eerily-tinged us.
Installation view of A Lure, A Lament at Gallery 456 in New York. Photo by Katherine Ma.
In Chinese mythological literature, the spiritual and ghostly are often imbued with an allure of beguiling femininity. Is it but a figment of male literati, a lingering shadow of patriarchy? Or rather, the feminine ‘gui’ is sensed as an unruly eros that disrupts, shatters, and flirts with the masculine stagnancy. ‘Gui’ is an erotic relation between the dualities in ourselves.
Installation view of A Lure, A Lament at Gallery 456 in New York. Photo by Katherine Ma.
Installation view of A Lure, A Lament at Gallery 456 in New York. Photo by Katherine Ma.
This exhibition immerses the audience in the inescapable intimacy of ‘gui’ through each artist’s subtle expressivity. The lure is here presented as a unique attention evoked by the spiritual within us—our entwined yearnings, our remorseful fantasies. The archaic exudes its aroma through the gestural plays on papers, carving boards, and the interweaving pigments. An ambience is all over the place. It nearly sustains a ritual, a silent prayer to the past, a lamentation for ancestors within the hush of old tales. ‘Gui’ is never alien to us. We move with its thrum.
About the Artists
Mosaz Zijun Zhao
Mosaz Zijun Zhao is an artist whose work has been exhibited internationally, including at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, Palazzo Bembo in Venice, CICA Museum in South Korea, and Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan. Recognized with awards such as the International Prize Leonardo da Vinci and Premio Firenze XLI Edizione, her work has also been featured in Art Insider, BOOOOOOOM, The Woven Tale Press, and AI-Tiba9 Art Magazine, among others.
Her work is based on her understanding of traditional culture as an Asian individual—an understanding shaped by what she has heard, seen, and deeply felt since childhood. She focuses on symbols, imagery, and rituals embedded in cultural memory, reconstructing them through a personal lens. In her work, she seeks to present the collision, integration, and reconciliation between tradition and her personal spiritual world. This conflict is sometimes subtle and sometimes intense, shaping her artistic language.
I Chin Sung
I Chin Sung is an artist, illustrator, and graphic designer born in Taipei, Taiwan, and currently residing in New York. Her work primarily consists of oil paintings, but she also explores various other creative media, including sculpture, installation, and video.
Her creations are inspired by her life experiences in Taiwan, as well as the religious cultures of Buddhism and Taoism. Through her art, she aims to convey cultural themes while allowing the audience to experience a sense of healing.
I Chin earned a bachelor's degree in fashion design from Taipei Shih Chien University in 2020. Her fashion designs have been showcased on the runway at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and exhibited in the Young Designers' Exhibition (YODEX) and The Arts of Fashion Foundation in San Francisco. While studying fashion design, she also taught painting at Meihouse Art Studio. After graduating, she took on graphic design projects. In 2021, she served as a graphic designer for the For1Dream International Cultural Corporation and Pronovias Taiwan.
In 2024, I Chin enrolled in the School of Visual Arts in New York, where she is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree, which she will graduate in 2026.
Yike Li
Yike Li is an artist based in New York (SVA BFA program) and Beijing, born in Yunnan, China. Growing up amid the region’s diverse ethnic cultures and unspoiled natural landscapes, she developed a deep sensitivity to the interwoven rhythms of life, nature, and art.
Her practice spans painting, printmaking, and installation, often weaving together traditional and contemporary methods. At the core of her art is a sustained reflection on life and death. Through the cycles of nature and the temporal quality of music, she explores how beauty and fragility coexist, and how art can provide a space for healing, remembrance, and transformation.
About the Curators
Weifan Mo
Weifan Mo (Michelle) (b.2001) is a writer, creator, and curator at the New School for Social Research (Philosophy MA Program), with scholarly interests that encompass aesthetics, phenomenology, affect studies, Ancient Greek philosophy & drama, and Chinese diasporic literature & films. Her academic and creative initiatives revolve around interdisciplinary artistic practices that channel our intellectual life into everyday experience. She employs the project of aesthetics study as a filter to encapsulate the affective dynamics surrounding individuals within modern and postmodern context.
Shuhan Zhang
Shuhan Zhang(b. 2002) is an MA candidate in Visual Arts Administration at New York University and a graduate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Her research and curatorial practice focus on the intersections of digital art, cultural platforms, and the contemporary art market, examining how technology reshapes modes of viewing, value production, and art circulation. She has participated in exhibitions and projects at institutions including UCCA Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing), Tank Shanghai, Eli Klein Gallery (New York), and RAINRAIN Gallery (New York), and brings cross-institutional experience to experimental curatorial practices in non-traditional and multifunctional spaces, fostering critical dialogue among artists, institutions, and audiences.
About the Executive Curators
Xinying Wang
Xinying Wang is a curator and researcher whose work explores accessibility, audience experience, and the emotional and social dimensions of visual art.
Luman Jiang
Luman Jiang is a curator and researcher focusing on the therapeutic potential of art and its role in mediating spirituality, identity, and emotional experience.
