HOOK Space is pleased to present Wandering Malleability  (Nov. 14-Dec. 12, 2025), curated by Cristobal Alday, a solo exhibition of Chicago based painter and installation artist Jiaming You. 

The exhibition features ten paintings on customized wood panels and one photography work from the artist’s newest series “Urban Silhouette”. Through found imagery, layered painting, and a deep sensitivity to form, this body of work examines the relationship between physical surroundings and psychological moments—how individuals perceive themselves and how the environments they inhabit project back onto them. 

Themes of immigration and belonging emerge subtly through layering and transformation, prompting reflection on how external forces shape identity and how, in turn, we imprint ourselves upon the world. By manipulating the shape of customized wood panels, You transforms surface into substance, creating spaces that question the boundaries between self and setting.

Posters by Mikey Mosher
Documentation by Mikey Mosher and Lili Xie