FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Tim Brown
Director, IA&A at Hillyer
International Arts and Artists
hillyerdirector@artsandartists.org
(202) 338-0680

Te-Mao Lee
In-Between beings

September 6–29, 2025

VIP and Member Reception: Friday, September 5, 5 to 6 pm
Opening reception (general public) 6 to 8 p.m

In the exhibition In-Between beings, Te-Mao Lee contemplates the question of existence through a series of video works that gaze toward a future two thousand years from now. Along Taiwan’s east coast, tectonic forces have gradually uplifted ancient coastal settlements to elevated sites—prehistoric traces now suspended above sea level—revealing that ancient peoples once lived by the sea. This vertical dimension of spacetime prompts a descent 20 meters below today’s sea level, where the artist explores a yet-to-arrive mode of being through the materiality of seabed sand.

By positioning AI as a viewer and a thinker, the work reveals its fluid cognition as it views and misreads underwater images, generating text that flows like a stream of consciousness. The works delineate a temporary and indeterminate “in-between state of being,” probing the shifting boundaries co-inhabited by humans, landscapes, and artificial intelligence.

This exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Culture (MOC) of Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO). Organized in partnership with International Arts and Artists.

Public Programs

A Conversation with Te-Mao Lee and Mia Yinxing Liu

Saturday, September 6, 1 pm
Location: IA&A at Hillyer, 9 Hillyer Ct NW

Organized in conjunction with the exhibition titled In-Between beings, Te-Mao Lee will be joined by Mia Yinxing Liu to discuss the concepts, research, and working methods, including the integration of artificial intelligence that informs his work. Mia Yinxing Liu, is currently an Assistant Professor of the History of Art at John Hopkins University, and a scholar of modern and contemporary Chinese art and media culture. Her research focuses on how traditions are constructed, reconfigured, and reinvented in different social and political contexts and in diverse media in modern China.

In-Between Sounds

Saturday, September 13, 7:15 pm

Join us for a special musical performance featuring Huai-En Tsai (trombone), Shu-Ting Yao (violin), and Wan-Chi Su (piano) who will perform music inspired by the exhibition by Te-Mao Lee titled In-Between beings. This program is organized in conjunction with Art All Night, a citywide arts event. To learn more visit Art All Night.

Location: IA&A at Hillyer, 9 Hillyer Ct NW

Conversation with Te-Mao Lee and Hsien-Yu Cheng

Saturday, September 20, 1 pm
Online conversation

As part of the exhibition In-Between beings, featured artist Te-Mao Lee will be joined by Hsien-Yu Cheng to discuss some of the underlying concepts in the exhibition and how the work connects to the global discussion about “being” in the contemporary art world.

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About IA&A at Hillyer

A&A at Hillyer is a program of International Arts & Artists, (IA&A), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing cross-cultural understanding and exposure to the arts through exhibitions, programs, and services to artists, arts institutions, and the community. Hillyer is funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the Galena Yorktown Foundation, the Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation, and the Mars Foundation. 

About TECRO

TECRO oversees 12 offices known as Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices, or TECOs, in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Guam.

TECRO has a Political Division, a Congressional Liaison Division, a Consular Division, an Administrative Division, a Press Division, an Education Division, an Economic Division, a Science and Technology Division, a Health Division, a Taiwan Academy, a Cultural Center, a Defense Mission, and an Agricultural Division. These units are responsible for managing different aspects of the bilateral relationship between Taiwan and the United States.

For press materials, high-res images, or interview requests, please contact Tim Brown, Hillyer Director at hillyerdirector@artsandartists.org