Born in Taiwan, She studied photography in Tokyo Japan at the Nihon Academy of Fine Art University and in New York at the New York Film Academy. She practiced commercial and fashion photography while at the same time pursuing a career in Fine Art photography, combining Western and Eastern cultural elements to demonstrate how cultural identity is shaped by the socio-political environment.
She was the recipient of the Grand Prize at the Kaunas Lithuania Biennial 2014, In 2014 she was awarded The Terna Contemporary Art Prize and was an award winner at the Soho Photo Gallery Competition in New York. Her work has been the subject of frequent exhibitions in Europe, Asia, and the US. Gao Yuan's work was selected at Hong Kong Sotheby's auction“The Woman with the book”.
Most recently important solo exhibition at Museo Marino Marini in Italy in 2019. Other recent activities include a solo exhibition at the National Museum of M.K. Ciurlionis, Kaunas, Lithuania. Also: New York AIPAD photography show, Soug Zoung Art Museum, Beijing. Art Basel (Art Miami), the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, and 2023 SHERO Taiwan Contemporary Women Art, Tainan Art Museum, Taiwan.