Yijia Wu, Pear-ed

Pear-ed is the 2026 edition of the ongoing One Pear a Year project, in which the artist carves a stone pear each year to reflect on her evolving understanding of separation and togetherness.

The sculpture consists of two connected pears, hand-carved in stone and joined by a spalted wood stem, with cast bronze leaves attached to each fruit. In the artist’s culture, the word for pear is a homophone for “separation”. As a result, it is traditionally believed that sharing a pear brings separation, as doing so symbolically implies parting. Growing up, the artist’s mother would often warn her not to divide a pear among family members for this reason.

In response, the artist carves the pears in stone - a material associated with solidity, permanence, and strong bonds as a way to hold the forms together rather than apart. However, the bronze leaves are cast in the shape of spoons, subtly inviting the viewer to “share” the fruit visually. Through this gesture, the work creates a paradoxical situation: a culturally unshareable fruit is presented in a form that encourages acts of sharing.