Tyler Wood is delighted to present a one-person exhibition of new and recent work by Takming Chuang. For Index, Chuang deepens his examination of impermanence. In his words, “I materialize the vitality of my body through photography, sculpture, painting, and printmaking to lighten the weight of my mortality.”
Chuang’s experiments attempt to rationalize ancient and contemporary practices that preserve and revere remains of the deceased. Imagery and beliefs from diverse funerary rituals inform his work that shows both the fragility and vibrancy of corporeality.
Chuang also contemplates the value systems pertaining to objects that come into bodily contact with prominent figures in religion, sports and entertainment: the significance of the Shroud of Turin; the awe of winning athletes’ soiled sports equipment; the fetishizing of garments worn by the rich and famous.
He works porously across four continuous series, loosely categorized by their methods of production. The Body Parts series is comprised of re-purposed paintings. Chuang tears painted canvases from their stretchers and soaks them in water before they are molded to his body and dried slowly against bare skin.
Body Block is an adaptation of a printing method that applies his weight onto an arrangement of brass fragments. After hours of pressure an impression is left on his skin and transferred onto paper with block print ink. The process is repeated to capture unique variations of the fleeting image.
For the Pumped series, Chuang performs repetitive actions that promote muscular definition. During periods of rest, he wedges brass shapes under his armpits until they absorb the warmth generated by exertion. A subtle patina forms on the metal surfaces. Also within this series, between exercising he impresses portions of his body into piles of powdered marble.
Lastly, in Life Cycle, re-purposed paintings are ripped, soaked, stretched, rolled, or beaten before they are hung to dry.
Tyler Wood Gallery
Chuang’s experiments attempt to rationalize ancient and contemporary practices that preserve and revere remains of the deceased. Imagery and beliefs from diverse funerary rituals inform his work that shows both the fragility and vibrancy of corporeality.
Chuang also contemplates the value systems pertaining to objects that come into bodily contact with prominent figures in religion, sports and entertainment: the significance of the Shroud of Turin; the awe of winning athletes’ soiled sports equipment; the fetishizing of garments worn by the rich and famous.
He works porously across four continuous series, loosely categorized by their methods of production. The Body Parts series is comprised of re-purposed paintings. Chuang tears painted canvases from their stretchers and soaks them in water before they are molded to his body and dried slowly against bare skin.
Body Block is an adaptation of a printing method that applies his weight onto an arrangement of brass fragments. After hours of pressure an impression is left on his skin and transferred onto paper with block print ink. The process is repeated to capture unique variations of the fleeting image.
For the Pumped series, Chuang performs repetitive actions that promote muscular definition. During periods of rest, he wedges brass shapes under his armpits until they absorb the warmth generated by exertion. A subtle patina forms on the metal surfaces. Also within this series, between exercising he impresses portions of his body into piles of powdered marble.
Lastly, in Life Cycle, re-purposed paintings are ripped, soaked, stretched, rolled, or beaten before they are hung to dry.
Tyler Wood Gallery