Devilbend ,Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery

2007 Nov 21th

The exhibition Devilbend was curated to acknowledge and celebrate the unique qualities of the newly-created Devilbend Reserve,in the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. I was invited as a part of seven artists, who presented works based on their interaction and interpretation of the site.

The ‘Weeds Project 2007’ was a mixed media installation, which I created for the exhibition. It was constructed with sculptures, photograph, drawings and videos, which aimed to examine the notion of Weeds from different perspectives. It explored the never-ending nature of ‘Weeds’ and questions the reliability of our perception.

I have been interested in the subject of ‘Weeds’ for a long time. It is because that the nature of weeds is highly subjective and full of contradiction. — Many people feel an ambivalence about the beauty of weeds and the sense of it being a ‘pest’. Depending on their interest, priority, or their context and emotional aspect, the definition of weeds alters. This subjectivity can be seen in many occasions in our life, even sometime, in the subconscious sense of discrimination or our judgmental reaction.

The Weed Trucks, which were made out of weeds from Devilbend and my home at Dandenong Ranges, were shown as a central work of the project. Finding material from both places were significantly important because with this way, I could connect my work, my life and Devilbend strongly. As if I gave them genes from both places. These trucks, which looked like children’s toys or primitive objects, aimed to address the infinity, continuity and endless circle of our life, and also to evoke my sense of childhood.

The fact of my family taking the trucks for a walk made the video as a portrait of my own family. It is partly because of the fact of us being migrant. Weeds and migration has a strong analogy.

The drawings that accompanied the weed trucks show the same vehicles but from different angles. This draws attention to the fact that in any discussion about the environment there are many different points of view. Once I said, ‘making art means separating things from the world and reconstructing them with my own hands.’ This drawing series functioned like that to me.

Another DVD ‘What do Weeds mean to you? –the interview with my 21 thoughtful friends’ introduced actual people’s voice about weeds can be heard in this documentation. It acted as a reference that how people perceive the definition of Weeds variously

‘Grass drawings’ with weed was created on the wall, as a working progress work. It kept growing during the show, like weeds kept creeping into the garden. To create something from materials people think are useless is a concept has always been of my strong interest. Also this slow process reflected the unstable relationship between the natural world and humanity and the simultaneous fragility and strength of life

As I stated in the artist statement, for me, art making means a process of connecting the past, present and future to thinking organically. This is also a process of re-examination and visible interpretation of my life at this time. Also, to speak about everything’s interconnectedness and its invisible but continuous change in our life is significant message. In that respect, Weeds played the perfect role to embody the concept.

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