installations
behind me, a world of pale light
Behind me, a World of Pale Light reveals that there is no veil between the past, present, and future. Enter a vacuum perfect for preserving multiplicities. Nothing exists in a fixed state – there is no particular way of seeing anything: a projection filters and dances across surfaces, ice melts, and stains sculptures.
The incongruity intrinsic to the works’ identity questions the notion of a fixed present of the work —for instance, is the ice true form its fully frozen state encased in the dark freezer? or a moment when it's melting and disappearing? or as a stain it leaves behind?— the validity of all haecceities calls into focus the cohabitation of present and past.
Hands are our most intimate way of interacting with the world. They are in a way a direct tie to our present moment and serve as the backbone/motif for the entire exhibition.
Hands experience our quietest moments, picking up traces of time to grow on palms into organisms. Swabs of our hands’ bacteria grown on agar plates are projected across their surrounding environment. Just as the cell colonies intermingle with one another, the roots of our memories connect, as does the projection with space – bridging the projected past growth with the ever-inconstant present moment.
The multiple hand casts, be it in fully three-dimensional form or the impression of a hands’ surface, exhibit visual recordings of its creation. For instance, as Anna pulls her hand from the mold, her rings drag raised motion lines on the agar leaving marks present on the subsequently cast resin/plaster/concrete’s surface. Such remnants carry a past of conscious intention. You see the piece in its current state as well as its birth— the cohabitation of present and past.
Our perception weaves and wanes, a curtain softly blessed by the wind obscuring and refocusing to reveal the tapestry of the past, present, and future. The ebb and flow of the surrounding installation draws one’s awareness to how one inhabits space —in turn how one inhabits time.
project info
Behind Me, a World of Pale Light was exhibited in a two-person show with artist Lily Xia at the Spare Room Gallery.