Dominique Fung, a 38-year-old artist known for painting and sculpture, created her first site-specific outdoor performance piece, "A Leaf's Pilgrimage," for the High Line in New York in early September 2025. The three-day performance traced the life of a tea leaf through scenes of growth, withering, and packaging, led by a guide from the ancient past and a present-day assistant. Fung, who has previously created large-scale murals for Rockefeller Center and installations for the Armory Show, will debut new paintings at Massimo de Carlo in Paris in January.
The High Line commission marks a significant expansion of Fung's practice into performance, reflecting her willingness to experiment across mediums. Her work consistently reimagines Chinese history, mythology, and iconography with wit and criticality, countering Orientalist tropes. The piece also highlights the growing institutional support for artists who blend cultural heritage with contemporary forms, as seen in her collaborations with the Art Production Fund and Jeffrey Deitch, and her influence on spaces like the Chinese wine bar Lei.