SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE

A Solo Exhibition by Vivian Chiu

In her first solo exhibition, Vivian Chiu combines kinetic sculptures, traditional woodworking techniques, photography and historical research to explore ideas of visibility/invisibility in relation to her identity as a queer Asian woman. Applying methods of continuous deconstruction and reconstruction, Chiu reveals and conceals the female body in materials such as wood and photography. Her sculptures explore how dichotomies can function within a single object and use repetitive processes to create abstract optical sculptures. The works are guided by queer and feminist theory and engage the viewer through ideas of perception, disorientation and camouflage. Chiu utilizes labor intensive methods not only as a catharsis to alleviate psychological narratives, but also to pay a conscious homage to her family’s history and toils in factory work. 

In the main gallery space, three kinetic sculptures utilize “Jacob’s Ladders” (also called Chinese Blocks) to toggle between self-portraits. The dueling images explore Vivian’s own physicality and reflect on cultural ideas surrounding the taboo of nudity. The standing wood sculptures utilize the “split-turning technique”, traditionally used for decorative balusters, to deconstruct and reconstruct abstract forms. This transformation poses the question - what are the parts exposed as the result of this shift?

On view is also a new body of photographic work based on historical research into Pan Yuliang, one of the first female Chinese painters to paint Asian nudes. Vivian reimagines her paintings by combining images taken using a remote controlled self-timer. As she mirrors Pan Yuliang’s work, Vivian asserts her own power by challenging the viewer, making them aware of themselves, and aware that she is simultaneously looking at them.

Growing up in pre-Handover Hong Kong and now living in America, Chiu draws from conflicts and commonalities of Eastern and Western cultures, a constant source of concern and inspiration in her sculptural practice. The psychologically driven work investigates the relationship and tension between desired individual freedoms, such as the ability to be outspoken and live an openly queer life, and conservative Chinese cultural values such as filial piety. Vivian is interested in racial embodiment, Asian femininity, and its place/non-place in Contemporary Art discourses. Through experimental techniques, she explores and materializes issues of labor, queerness and feminism to confront the mechanics of identity formation.