Works
Statement&bio
Contact
Bio
Ranran Hu is an artist from southern China. She was born and raised in China for 23 years and came to the United States in August 2024 to attend MCAD MFA in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Her work currently centers on the themes of walking, immigration and migration, focusing on the individual's experience of geographical and cultural mobility. Photography and book arts are her main mediums of expression. At the same time, she has a strong interest in performance and conceptual art, so that action itself is part of her work. She is sensitive to the abstract moments of daily life and tries to capture the passage of life and the fragility of human existence in tiny, fleeting moments. Also, she reflects on and criticizes the patterns of repetitive life, exploring human burnout, adaptation and resistance in the daily cycle. Her works emphasize the uniqueness and importance of individual experience in the world and oppose grand narratives.
In addition to art, in her daily life she enjoys reading, playing the ukulele, swimming, running, biking, traveling by train, and talking to people.
Statement
I am a fine art photography artist. My work is grounded in personal experience and incorporates reflections on my upbringing, intimate relationships, and Buddhist philosophy. I like to refer to my photographic works as “small-scale installations.” I reconstruct found everyday objects to create connections between people’s relationships. I approach photography in a painterly way, carefully controlling the objects and colors that appear in my images.
Photobooks are the primary medium for my work. They offer a rhythmic and fluid viewing experience. I enjoy exploring the interaction between paper, text, images, layout and the intuitive responses of my eyes and heart. The book format allows me to control the sequence, spacing, and timing with which each image is viewed.
During college, I was deeply influenced by the writings of Camus, Salinger, and Hesse. Their works shifted my understanding of the world. I began searching for the stone of Sisyphus, the little girl and dog outside the window, and the river in Siddhartha. I’m drawn to the same philosophical question they explore: in a world that is repetitive, painful, and seemingly meaningless, how do I find selfhood and a sense of value in existence? My work often responds to these themes with humor and irony, playfully engaging with the repetition and the meaningless world.
Exhibiton
- Suzy Greenberg Juried Exhibition, SOO Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN. 2025
- Photography &, Center for the Visual Arts in Wausau, WI. 2025
- Midwest Graduate Art and Design Symposium (GRAADS), Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.2025
- Early Career Artist Show, Squirrel Haus Arts, Minneapolis, MN. 2025
- Made at MCAD, MCAD Main Gallery, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, MN. 2025