KUO YUPING

There was no food in my stomach, sun on the back of my neck, love on my mind, panic in my soul, and an ache in my heart

mixed-media and sound installation, dimensions variable, 2018

Within the trend of migration across countries given rise by capitalism, more and more women are now searching independently for ways of survival. They migrate from one language to another, or from rural villages to cities; the identity for this migration, subject construction, and life experience in another country, are all processes full of conflicts and tensions.

This installation work composed of sound and objects begins with descriptions of “home” by Vietnamese actress Thu Lieu and her Taiwan-born daughter. In collaboration with sound artist and actor, the art work turns the two woman’s narratives into poetries with sound, with the setting transformed from the dynamic emotions stirred by transnational migration, the desire to survive, and the imagery of home, with the ethos behind the notion of “home” explored. The artwork also examines the space that people dwell and mature in, which is connected to the artist Kuo Yu Ping’s recurrent quest to find the key that could open up the understanding for the condition of “lacking missing” – a relationship between deep memories and self-existence.

The artwork consists of a few modified piece of furniture, with nest-like shapes created using hair, fur, wax, and colored glass scattered between the branches that have sprouted out of the furniture. The branches support the nests but several rackets have also grown from the branches, seemingly about to smash down the nests, which evokes feelings of uneasiness.