Tja Ling Hu (b. 1987) is a Dutch-Chinese visual artist whose practice explores memory, diaspora, and intergenerational identity. She received her MFA and BFA from the Luca School of Arts in Ghent, Belgium, and previously studied design at HKU Utrecht, Netherlands. In 2017, she received the Fiep Westendorp Stimuleringsprijs for a project tracing her family’s migration from China to the Netherlands.
Working across painting, works on paper, and ceramics, Hu examines womanhood, family narratives, and diasporic memory. Her works often originate from family photographs or historical images, which she reinterprets into contemplative compositions where memory and imagination converge. Drawing from both Eastern and Western visual languages, she reflects on how identity is shaped through inherited narratives, silence, and distance across generations. Painting functions as a reflective practice, an ongoing inquiry into displacement, belonging, and the intersection of personal and collective histories.
Hu has exhibited at major institutions including the Wereldmuseum, Amsterdam Museum, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, TENT Rotterdam, Framer Framed, and Museum IJsselstein, with an upcoming presentation at the Royal Delft Museum × STRAAT Museum Amsterdam. Her work is included in the collections of the Kunstmuseum The Hague, LAM Museum, Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam UMC art collection, Het Scheepvaartmuseum and Park Seo-bo Foundation in Korea, among others. She is a recipient of the Volkskrant Talenten distinction (#1 Illustration) and her work has been featured in De Volkskrant, Het Parool, Mister Motley, Museumtijdschrift, and other major Dutch media.
Artist photo credit: Sarah Dona
Working across painting, works on paper, and ceramics, Hu examines womanhood, family narratives, and diasporic memory. Her works often originate from family photographs or historical images, which she reinterprets into contemplative compositions where memory and imagination converge. Drawing from both Eastern and Western visual languages, she reflects on how identity is shaped through inherited narratives, silence, and distance across generations. Painting functions as a reflective practice, an ongoing inquiry into displacement, belonging, and the intersection of personal and collective histories.
Hu has exhibited at major institutions including the Wereldmuseum, Amsterdam Museum, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, TENT Rotterdam, Framer Framed, and Museum IJsselstein, with an upcoming presentation at the Royal Delft Museum × STRAAT Museum Amsterdam. Her work is included in the collections of the Kunstmuseum The Hague, LAM Museum, Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam UMC art collection, Het Scheepvaartmuseum and Park Seo-bo Foundation in Korea, among others. She is a recipient of the Volkskrant Talenten distinction (#1 Illustration) and her work has been featured in De Volkskrant, Het Parool, Mister Motley, Museumtijdschrift, and other major Dutch media.
Artist photo credit: Sarah Dona
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