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From Eel Catchers to Dream Catchers – Under the landscape Image 1
From Eel Catchers to Dream Catchers – Under the landscape Image 2
From Eel Catchers to Dream Catchers – Under the landscape Image 3

From Eel Catchers to Dream Catchers – Under the landscape

Ellen Ya-lun Peng

Dayuan in Taoyuan, was once a major hub for eel fry catching in Taiwan. With industrial development and the expansion of the Aerotropolis, the ecosystem has been heavily disturbed in recent years. Residents are waking from a dream of prosperity to face the reality of "no eels to catch" and "no home to return to". How can these fractured dreams be mended? This work presents an open inquiry. The artist views the "Elevated Section of West Coast Expressway"  as a modern industrial "metropolitan eel fry catching frame". Whereas eel catchers once used natural materials in the intertidal zones, we now navigate beneath massive industrial infrastructure, much like individuals caught within a system. By suspending large-scale woven nets and integrating a multimedia audio-visual space on the ground, the invisible ecological rhythms and survival memories of the eel fry catching era are interpreted into a visible, sensitive landscape and metaphorical space.

  • Artwork No.W09
  • Dimensions30 x 7 x 5(m)
Ellen Ya-lun Peng
Artist

Ellen Ya-lun Peng

Ellen Ya-lun Peng utilizes project-based artistic creations to explore how landscapes altered by power structures can regenerate perception and relationships. Through physical fieldwork and community immersion, she interprets residents' experiences into composite installation spaces. In 2022, she represented AMA Museum  in an international exhibition. In 2023, her work on the landscape transformation of Hsinchu Science Park was showcased at the Romantic Route 3 Art Festival, garnering significant attention from local communities and mass media. In 2024, as the Artist-in-Residence at  Taoyuan Children’s Art Center, she developed methods to weave collective memories through textile workshops. That same year, she won a million-dollar grand prize for her architectural and video installations paying tribute to the 228 and White Terror  in Chutung. As an international open-call winner for the 2025 Matsu Biennial, she opened an international dialogue by overlaying a traditional bridal sedan chair with deity palanquins within war ruins.

  • 作品點位 許厝港濕地低碳轉運中心旁