NEW YORK, NY.- Ming Fay, a celebrated New York City-based artist known for his immersive sculptural gardens and public art installations, passed away on February 23, 2025, at the age of 82.

Fay’s artistic practice explored the symbiotic relationship between humans and the natural world. Drawing from his deep knowledge of Chinese and American horticulture and mythology, as well as a close observational practice involving personally collected items such as seeds, seashells and bones, Fay sculpted larger-than-life fruits and other organic forms, often reworking known flora to create imaginary and otherworldly “hybrid” botanical species. His immersive installations invited visitors to wander through lush “gardens” or “jungles” of both real and fictional plant life. He often used the concept of the garden as a symbol of abundance or utopia—a metaphorical space representing humankind’s ideal state of being.

His artwork is held in various collections, including the Brooklyn Museum, New Museum, M+, Taipei Fine Art Musuem and the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Fay exhibited extensively across the U.S. and abroad, including at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Academy Museum, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His artwork continues to encourage us to notice and appreciate the shape, form, texture, beauty, and symbolism of the natural world around us. In his immersive installations teeming with larger- than-life botanical forms, Fay’s non-hierarchical natural environments will always serve as a reminder that humans are but one aspect of the world’s vast ecosystem.

Fay also created numerous impressive permanent public artworks across the United States, each deeply informed by his close study of the history, energy, local mythologies, and native species of each location. In downtown Manhattan, his glass mosaic Shad Crossing in the Delancey-Essex Street subway station, likens subway passengers crossing the East River to shad fish that migrate home though the same river each spring. In Yauco, Puerto Rico, his towering eighteen-foot magical coffee bean tree Arbol Magico pays homage to the region’s celebrated coffee heritage. At the entrance of P.S. 7 in Elmhurst, Queens, his thirteen-foot bronze gate, shaped like an elm leaf, was designed to offer children “something spiritual” as they passed through the gate each day. Additional permanent works can be found in Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland, and multiple locations throughout New York City.

Reflecting on his work, Fay once said: “In modern urban environments, the need for a reminder of the natural world is particularly significant and necessary. I strive to demonstrate the wonder of even the humblest natural forms, lending the viewer a new appreciation of the ordinary.”

Born in Shanghai to two artists, Ming Fay was raised in Hong Kong. In 1961, he moved to the United States on a two-week-long boat voyage to attend the Columbus College of Art and Design. He earned a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara where he focused on large-scale abstract geometric metal sculpture. Despite financial constraints and being among the first students from Hong Kong in his academic programs, Fay excelled and was awarded full scholarships throughout his U.S. higher education.

In 1973, Ming Fay moved to a studio on Canal Street in New York City. He began working in what would become his signature medium - papier-mâché over steel wire armature, combined with gauze and rhoplex, and painted with acrylic - utilizing materials that were affordable and accessible for him in Manhattan. Fay worked and lived in New York City for over fifty years. An active member of the city's art ecosystem, Fay co-founded Epoxy Art Group, an art collective that offered a supportive community for Chinese American artists living in New York City. The group, which was primarily active between 1982-1992, progressively evolved into a platform for collaborative projects that explored cross-cultural perspectives, gluing together East Asian and American influences.

In addition to his studio art and public art practices, Fay was a dedicated professor of sculpture at William Paterson University and the Maryland Institute College of Art. His legacy endures through his art, his students, and his permanent public art installations. Moreover, Fay's legacy is carried on by his son, Parker Tao Fay. Upcoming exhibitions in 2025 include a major retrospective at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum entitled Ming Fay: Edge of the Garden (June 26–September 21, 2025). His work will also be featured in the Kabinett sector at Art Basel Hong Kong (March 28-March 30, 2025), with a solo exhibition at Alisan Fine Arts in New York City in September 2025.