The Phillips Collection

"The making of the video took a couple of years, and had several iterations before its final form in Brain Storm. I would have no idea at the time that this work would propel me on a decade-long investigation into Chinese ink." —Jennifer Wen Ma

Jennifer Wen Ma (b. 1973, Beijing, China, lives and works in New York and Beijing) works in a variety of media including installation, drawing, video, public art, design, performance, and theater. Engaging both Eastern and Western art, old tradition and new technology, she creates multi-sensorial, community-engaged artworks. Brain Storm is a single-channel video showing a man and a horse crossing a stormy landscape. The piece alludes to an inner journey, or a brainstorm, unpredictable, uneven, and moody. In 2009, as part of her Intersections project at the Phillips, Ma reconfigured Brain Storm, originally commissioned in a three-channel version for Guggenheim Bilbao, for the smaller, more intimate space of the Phillips, adding an audio component—the sound of breath blown through lips—that reinforces the atmospheric quality of the piece.

Her work Brain Storm is on view in our new Imagination Gallery, located on the second floor of the Phillips House. Look closely at art and create your own imaginative work!

📽️ Jennifer Wen Ma, Brain Storm, 2009, Video, The Dreier Fund for Acquisitions, 2014.

Thank you to all performers and concert-goers for Phillips Music’s 85th Season! What a remarkable year of artistry, discovery, and connection 🎶

📽️ Trio Céleste on March 15, 2026 performing Paul Schoenfield’s piano trio Café Music. Video courtesy of The Phillips Collection.