font VII
2021 - Sculpture (Sculpture)
6 x 15 x 9 cm
Catalina Ouyang
font VII by Catalina Ouyang is part of an ongoing series of ‘fonts’, or sculptures, inspired by Catholic holy water vessels. This particular iteration from the series combines hand-carved soapstone, a stop loss trap, horse hair, fermented egg, and other elements to create an artwork that defies categorization. The work’s most notable feature is a small cavity that cradles a naked egg—a translucent, flaccid egg without its outer shell. Whereas most people associate sacred water with baptismal vows, Ouyang expands on the ritualist vessel as a place of possibilities by invoking Delueze and Guattari’s concept of the egg, or “body without organs (or BwO)”. In this example, the BwO is a metaphor for an undifferentiated, non-hierarchical realm that exists beneath the world of appearances. Ouyang characterizes the egg, which is devoid of production and function, as a body that develops from chaos, while still moving in constant proximity to annihilation. Such conceptual tensions are typical of Ouyang’s material and formal choices, as well as the types of associations that form across the artist’s objects and installations. The work is a mesmerizing convergence of elements that transmit a sense of loss and recovery, especially on a plane where words are rendered insufficient and can only be accessed through material relations.
Catalina Ouyang investigates themes of desire, subjugation, and dissidence through object-making, transdisciplinary contexts, and time-based works. Ouyang’s artwork examines how a subject navigates physical and sociopolitical space: what histories and discourses are inscribed on the body, and how the body coexists with architecture and bureaucratic processes. In writing about their practice, Ouyang emphasizes the critical re-imaging of historical formation wherein monstrosity, animality, and toxicity serve as ciphers for the psycho-affective alienation of the minor subject.
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » KADIST
Minerva Cuevas
2006During her research on primitive currencies and cultural cannibalism, Cuevas came across the Donald Duck comic book issue “The Stone Money Mystery,” where Donald goes on a quest to find missing museum objects...
© » KADIST
Fernanda Gomes
2013For this floor based work, Gomes has taken two lengths of bamboo and tied them together using linen thread...
© » KADIST
Mark Grotjahn
2002This particular drawing, like many of Grotjahn’s works, presents a decentered single-point perspective...
© » KADIST
Gozo Yoshimasu
2017Gozo Yoshimasu’s double-sided work on paper Fire Embroidery explores his response to the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami...
© » THEARTNEWSPER
A new wave: spate of UK exhibitions signal growing recognition for Inuit and Sámi art Art market Museums & heritage Exhibitions Books Podcasts Columns Technology Adventures with Van Gogh Search Search Exhibitions news A new wave: spate of UK exhibitions signal growing recognition for Inuit and Sámi art Shows in London, Southampton and St Ives are introducing a wider audience to the work of artists from the far north Alexander Morrison 7 February 2024 Share Pia Arke's Krabbe 1906/Jensen 1947 is an example of how the artist blended “the personal with the political” Courtesy and © Pia Arke Estate Two years on from the last major milestone, the push for representation of art from the far north appears to have reached another...
© » KADIST
Baseera Khan
2017Designed by the artist and fabricated in collaboration with Kashmiri artisans in India, Baseera Khan’s Psychedelic Prayer Rugs combine visual iconography traditional to Islam, such as the crescent moon and lunar calendar, with brightly coloured symbols of personal significance to the artist: a pair of embroidered sneakers, a fragment of an Urdu poem, and the Purple Heart medal...
© » KADIST
Goldin+Senneby
2010In this installation, you are standing at the heart of a bicephalous space reflecting Goldin+Senneby’s main research led during their residency in Paris...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
In a Material World: IMPART Collectors’ Show 2020 & Justice for All | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints Courtesy of artists January 3, 2020 By Aditi Shivaramakrishnan (1,200 words, 5-minute read) When it comes to analysing an artwork, the artist’s choice of materials can be as revelatory as other elements in suggesting what they might wish to communicate...
