Wen-Hao Tien: Flight Lessons at Boston Sculptors Gallery

Boston, MA — Boston Sculptors Gallery is pleased to present Flight Lessons, a new installation by interdisciplinary artist Wen-hao Tien, on view August 28 through September 28, 2025.

Blending storytelling, symbolism, and natural materials, Flight Lessons explores the universal human desire for freedom, uplift, and transcendence. The installation features abstract bird-like sculptures— hand-formed from clay—perched on trapezes, suspended from branches, or climbing toward invisible heights.

“Tien is drawn to work with materials straight from nature,” writes art historian Shelley Drake Hawks. “Fired from clay, the abstract shapes of the ‘birds’ resemble calligraphy. Each elongated form becomes an expressive, flowing line from the recesses of her imagination as the ceramic ‘words’ roost and flutter.”

Tien’s inspiration is both deeply personal and globally resonant. Her father was a pilot and kept messenger pigeons as pets—a legacy that infuses the work with emotional weight. Flight Lessons also reflects on contemporary struggles of displacement and migration, offering a poetic response to the plight of refugees and others seeking hope and safety.

“The energetic gestures of the clay pieces contrast with its dark and dense materials. What does it take to defy gravity?” asks Tien, “and what does it mean to navigate difficult circumstances in the darkest times?”

More than a meditation on physical flight, the installation invites viewers to consider the courage to imagine escape, ingenuity to shape it from humble means, and compassion to offer that “lift” to others.

Special Open Mic — September 20, part of the exhibition, this event invites the public to participate in an extension of Tien’s fieldwork on personal and collective stories of uplift. As she puts it: “Taking flight is more than defying gravity—it’s the moment we trust possibility more than fear.”

First Friday Reception
September 5, 5pm – 8:30pm

Artist Reception and Talk
Saturday, September 13, 2pm – 5pm (Talk at 3pm)

Open Mic
Saturday, September 20, 3 – 5pm

Artist Meet and Greets
August 29 & September 14, 11am – 5pm

Gallery Hours
Wednesday – Sunday 11am – 5pm