I collaborated with the artist Samuel Webb in the work ‘In living part-1’ (2023 ongoing). Over the coming months, we will have wooden timbers on the living room floor that may cause inconvenience for us. These timbers represent the unexpected and unpredictable events that can encroach on our time, physical energy, and mental capacity. Despite this, they’re also a necessary aspect of life that provides feedback about our existence and makes us feel secure. When we interact with the timbers, we must adapt to their position, revealing the unpredictable and occasionally frustrating challenges we face daily.
I collaborated with the artist Yaoli Yu in ‘Intersection of Parallels’(2023). A woman is pregnant. The unborn child is being brought into existence within a patriarchy that has created a cage for women for the purpose of carrying on the family line. Three perspectives intersect at this moment of physical transformation. Naturally, dialogues should arise at this crossroads.
In my work ‘Blueprint’ (2021), I covered the wall with a large piece of white fabric and invited individuals to hammer piles into the fabric, connecting points with threads.
I then applied cyanotype liquid to the fabric and exposed it to sunlight, revealing the marks of people’s intelligence. After removing the fabric, I tried to paint the wall back white. But even after more than 30 attempts, the blue marks persisted and reappeared in the sunlight each day, resisting all efforts to cover them up.
I collaborated with the artist Vickie Amiralis in ‘Improvised Song’ (2021). We were two artists collaborating at a distance. We made a song for a group show that happened in the wood. Because of the time differences, I received the lyrics just a few hours before recording in the studio. I composed and remembered the song in 25 minutes using my impression of the earlier online tour of the wood.
In the work ‘Home 1’(2019), I made a sculpture that is in the process of falling from its build. I let the light, wind, and gravity nibble away my effort until all structures become stains. Merging into the word of decay.
Tong Hua 