Courtesy of Tian Hsu

Gallery exhibition by artist Tian Hsu ’26 took viewers on a visual journey through immersive art pieces that included virtual reality, projections and interactive models. 

On April 12 in the Trumbull Art Gallery, Hsu hosted a multimedia exhibition inspired by her own living experiences titled “Shrinking spaces: Where will we live in the future?” The gallery took viewers through different living spaces of the artist, from her college dorm room to a New York City apartment. She used technology to visualize, contextualize and compare the sizes of spaces.

“[The exhibition] is about living and furniture and mental health in the midst of a cost-of-living health crisis,” Hsu said.

This was Hsu’s second exhibition. Her first was last semester, which included a collection of sketches around Trumbull. 

Her sketches of Yale and other pieces of her work can be found in her portfolio.

“This one is very different [than her last exhibit],” Sarah Cheyney ’26 said. “This one is a curated conceptual space. It’s kind of crazy to think that it was all done by one person.” 

The artist recommended the viewer start with the virtual reality headset, which contextualized different living spaces in major cities. Cities included San Francisco, Paris, London and more.

The artist felt that people today have a difficult time imagining what certain square-feet spaces look like. She wanted to use a VR experience so that viewers could experience these size differences rather than just imagining them. 

“It was awesome,” said gallery visitor Luke Louchheim ’27. “You actually feel like you’re in the studio apartment.”

Aside from the VR experience, the gallery also included posters describing Hsu’s different living arrangements, detailed drawings of spaces on Yale’s campus and a piece of furniture that converts from a chair to a table — which Hsu designed.

Hsu also constructed a lamp made out of a piece of paper that she completed during the architecture conference “Light as Material” that took place March 29 and 30. She also projected an animation that depicted the floorplan of her ideal living space, juxtaposed by condensing and multiplying the animation. 

Hsu’s exhibit was also inspired by the history of living during the Edo period in Japan. During that period, an entire family of four would live together in a 97-square-foot space.

“Should we be complaining about how little space we have?” Hsu asked.

Her exhibit was designed to make the viewer question their concept of space from both a point of privilege and possibility.