Pendulum

This is an audio description for Pendulum, curated by Jonathan Kim as part of Oz Asia and  presented by Nexus Arts Gallery on Kaurna Country, Adelaide, South Australia. The exhibition is available to experience in person from the 13th of October to the 18th of November, 2022.

Shaye Du’o’ng, Faltar, 2022, paraffin wax, brick, assorted fixtures, dimensions variable

Entering the gallery, we first come to a plain white wall around 2m in front of the door. At the base of this wall is a small shrine, around 1m high, mostly consisting of a paraffin wax sculpture on top of rows of light brown bricks.

The bricks are around the size of standard house bricks, about 10cm x 20cm on top and around 5cm high. The stack consists of 5 rows of bricks, 3 bricks deep.. The bricks on the far right and left are two bricks high, the ones in between four bricks high. On the shorter side stacks are an array of tall white candles dripping with wax, and small realistic models of cabbage leaves, and carrots and cucumber sliced into various floral shapes.

In the centre on the taller stack of bricks is a milky white platform made of paraffin wax; it has a low decorative fence around it. In the centre of this is a square house-like shape with a gently pitched roof, all made of paraffin wax. There is curved and floral detailing around the front of the shrine, and on eaves that sit on each side.

The floor of the shrine and its larger platform are also decorated with intricately sliced carrots and cucumbers in the shapes of flowers, large pale green cabbage leaves, and more dripping white candles.

In the centre of the small shrine house is a white vessel around 10cm wide, with handle-like protrusions on either side. Sticking out of this vessel are burnt and unburnt incense sticks.

The rest of the exhibition takes place in the main Nexus Gallery room, which is a white-painted space around 4m wide and 6m long, with a thick white column in the centre.

EJ son, Dancing Machine a.k.a. Dancing Teddy, 2022, single channel video, 5mins 3 secs

The next work is displayed on a large TV screen, to the left as you enter the gallery.

The video is accompanied by a subtle jazz soundtrack. A large teddy approximately 2 metres tall dances in a dark atmospheric living room. As the video begins the teddy is already swaying from gently from side to side, moving its articulated hips. Light seems to pour through the eye holes of the dancing teddy, as if (bouncing off black button eyes or) penetrating through holes, bestowing it with an eerie watchful presence, looking back at us.

The dancing teddy is suspended from a pole and stands on a small platform that has two long fluorescent lights attached to its base. The lights burn brightly, highlighting the legs and lower belly of the dancing teddy and reflecting off the polished wooden floorboards. The teddy dances in front of drapes that hang from a picture rail which runs around the perimeter of the high-ceilinged room, about a foot below a wide embossed cornice. The orange drapes cover a long narrow window at the end of the room, and some light bleeds into the room through the curtains. Two decorative vents sit above the picture rail on either side of a window. The hands of a round clock on the right show the time as 2.50.

Against the wall to our left, another teddy sits with their back to us, feet up on a dark leather couch. The reclining teddy is watching the dancing teddy. A single, narrow shelf laden with objects sits along the wall above the teddy on the couch. Amongst the objects is a vase full of orange flowers. Midway along the right wall and jutting into the room is a fireplace lined in vertical planks of brown wooden timber. In the front of the fireplace is the door of a combustion heater. Other items of furniture in the room are two bookshelves that sit along the walls, either side of the dancing teddy. In front of them on the end wall are large black speakers that angle towards us.

On the wall to our right next to the bookshelf, is an exercise bike that sits on a stand and then a mid-century sideboard with four drawers, divided into two by two. Then an angled armchair, that matches the couch on the opposite side of the room. A pendant lampshade that hangs from the ceiling completes the décor. Two bronzed standard floor-lamps have been placed equidistant from the teddy, one on the left in front of the heater, the other alongside the bike on the right.

There is no change in the side-to-side hip movements of the Dancing Machine, which references the Instagram sensation #zerotodance, however the action is performed at a slower pace and due to the stiff nature of the teddy, when the teddy’s hips move the whole body is involved in the rocking motion. Part-way through the video a lighting change occurs as the standard lamps switch on, illuminating the stage-like space of the dancing machine set-up in front of the curtains and spotlighting the Dancing teddy. This allows us to see in more detail its round head and semi-circular ears, the sturdily stuffed rounded belly and articulated arms and legs. The light also amplifies the soft golden-brown velvet like texture of teddy’s fur, it’s solid stuffing, tight seams, and rigid limbs and it projects a large shadow that moves back and forth, flickering against the back left corner walls of the room. The music and repetitive action of the movement is relaxing and hypnotic. In the final 10 seconds of the video as the music fades, the light gradually disappears, and the screen becomes dark before the loop resets.

Jazmine Deng, loving/dying/hating/living (I’ve come to a gradual state of undoing), 2022, single channel moving image, red chinese stools, jelly jeans, man tou, my mother and grandmother’s jewellery, chinese broom, found paraphernalia from my family home, sound recordings taken from inside of my family home, footage of food to be eaten, food to be cooked, food to be thrown out, younger sister playing the piano

This video by Jazmine Deng is 9 minutes long. It contains some text about some triggering topics including sexual assault.

Throughout the video, stream of consciousness text appears across the screen, for example, “To the girl next door who I always thought was something special I really just loved the way you hit me / in a blind eye, in the flash of a wake YOU helped me oh my god you did not hurting not hurting not hurting anymore”. Videos of cooking food and backyards play and are distorted by low-res home movie effects, mirroring the videos, bouncing smaller versions of them across the screen, and curving into unrealistic colours.

Jazmine Deng, oranges and kiwis, 2022, acrylic paint on canvas, 61cm x 61cm

This square acrylic painting is hanging around 1.5m up the wall. The top half features an upside-down yellow half-circle against a dark green background, with a pink and blue swirl at the centre and smaller red swirls to the right.

Across the middle of the painting is a rough red line coming in from the left and ending just after the middle, turning into blobs of pale blue, gentle lilac and pale pink.

Beneath this is a roughly circular bright green shape against a brown background. Within the shape are squiggles in glittery pink, black and a multicoloured loop of yellow, pink and blue.

At the base of the painting to the left is a smudge in darker lilac-purple.

Jazmine Deng, for me it was my whole life, 2022, acrylic paint, colour pencil, graphite, canvas paper, paper, beads, string, nail polish, glitter, 40.5 x 50.5cm

Resting on the floor is another painting, 40 x 50 cm in a portrait orientation.

In the top half of the painting is a background of watery wash paint in purple and blue. To the left side is a blue dome with stripes of red and purple inside, and some thinly outlined butterflies. Small off-centre text in glitter paint reads, “For me only”. There are some streaks of green across the right.

The bottom half of the painting has a background of splashes of dark purple. To the right is a brown and green splodge of paint, and coming out of this splodge is a string of bright colourful beads pinned three times to the work, creating a loose W shape.

In the bottom right is a sticker of a cartoon lamb in a blue coat.

To the right of this painting, also resting against the wall, is a short broom. Against the floor is the brush of the broom, a roughly cut array of straw-like material. The stick is white and green striped, and sitting atop the end of the broom is a yellow washing-up glove. On the ring finger of the glove is a silver ring.

To the left of the painting are two red stools, one positioned upside down on the other. Within are an assortment of objects including a long piece of bread between two eggshell halves; a small gold trinket; rainbow coloured aquarium gravel and lead pencils.

In the centre of the gallery is a permanent white column; more of Jazmine’s work decorates the base and top of the column. At the base sits a fish tank empty of water but full of aquarium gravel, clear glass trophies, little trinkets like flower erasers and beads. It is all brightly coloured.

At the top of the column up near the ceiling is a small platform, atop of which sits a cup of instant ramen. A sauce packet is stuck to the side of the column.

Jake Yang, Installation, 2022, oil on board, taffeta, silk, beads and charms, 24-55 cm

This installation of seven circular paintings is situated in the South-Eastern corner of the gallery. The walls have been painted a soft mid green 3 meters in either direction from the corner, so that the total space is 3m high by 6m wide/long. Painted directly onto the green walls and flowing behind and between the series of seven round mirror-like paintings are 3 dark green calligraphic like symbols. The individual paintings vary in size between 45 to 55 centimetres in diameter.

The seven works create a symmetrical pattern: three in the middle, hanging with their backs to the corner of the room. On the left side of these are two more circular paintings, one near the centre work and one further out and higher up; on the right side are another two, mirroring the arrangement.

The top work in the centre is titled, ‘Fortune says: it’s Britney, bitch’. An oil painting on board, it measures 45 centimetres in diameter with an additional 10cm gathered satin fabric frill that acts as a subtle grey-green frame for the piece.

The focus of this piece is a large broken fortune cookie, the pastry of its shiny crust has been painted with a lovely gleam, and a thin strip of white paper unfurls like a banner from the top half of the cookie displaying the words in the title, “it’s Britney, bitch’. The cookie sits on a grey background. The edge of the 12mm thick wooden board is painted green and the satin fabric frill sits around the edge of the painting.

Below this work is the second painting, ‘Speak Mandarin, it’s an asset’. This painting measures 50 centimetres in diameter and has a green painted edge. A transparent plastic manicure pouch has been enlarged to take up most of the space in the composition, it is highlighted against an uneven background of green gestural brushstrokes. The pouch is lime green and contains a couple of shaped nail tools and a metal nail clipper. Its plastic lid is closed, and four short lines of small black text on the pouch state ‘Speak Mandarin, it’s an asset’ in English and then Chinese characters. The pouch is painted hanging on a metal hook from a chain made of small metal balls. The hook is extremely foreshortened.

The third work below this is ‘Curious Devil Boy’ a 50-centimetre round oil on board, with a green taffeta edge. The remaining five paintings depict the same male figure.

In this work Yang depicts a young man standing in a position that looks as if he is about to take off. He wears a black hat with small, pointed ears at the top, black hair hangs either side of his face, and he glances down- at or past his feet. He wears a short-sleeved grey button-through shirt over a pale long-sleeved light-grey sweater. His arms are held straight out to the sides and are slightly lifted so his hands are at waist level. The sides of his shirt are tucked into the waist of his brown pants. He wears shiny black boots on his feet. It appears as if he is standing, feet together on a high ledge.

The background is painted wet-on-wet so that the brown colours partially blend and create a swirling dynamic backdrop to this focused young man. Hanging from the bottom of the painting are 5 carefully knotted cords that dangle in a triangle, they hold various beads and crystals. The longest black cord in the middle displays a complex knot and long tassel.

The fourth painting in the installation is to the right is ‘Devil Boy’ this work is about 50 centimetres in diameter with a black fabric edge. In this work Yang paints a close-up portrait of ‘Devil Boy’. He gazes to the left, light reflects from his forehead, across his slightly puffy almond shaped eyes, broad nose, and cheeks. A thin moustache grows above his full lips. His eyes, eyebrows and longish hair are dark brownish black.

Devil Boy again wears a cap of black textured fabric that is cut out and glued to the board on top of the painting. The black fabric cap is ‘hood-like’, it has pointed ears that curve inwards at the top. It covers Devil Boy’s ears, and a wide band secures it around and underneath his chin. He wears a dark crew-neck sweater, that emphasizes a gold medallion that dangles on a chain around his neck. His shoulders are slanted, the left shoulder sitting slightly higher than the right. The background is painted in ochres and raw sienna, a yellowish-brown and the edge of the painting is finished with black fabric.

The fifth painting ‘Devil Boy with Cranes’ hangs to the right, at the same level as painting four. It’s 50 centimetres in diameter and has an edge of green folded silk. It is another close-up of Yang’s ‘Devil Boy’, this time his head is turned to the right and he massages his right eyebrow with his right hand. He wears a cap of green figured silk, and the neck and head of a graceful crane is shown on either side of him. The cranes are also cut from the same floral silk of pale greens and creams, highlighted with darker green leaves and some touches of pink and orange. The fabric cap and crane shapes are stuck to the board on top of the painting, some of the silk edges are slightly frayed. Cranes are a well-recognised symbol of longevity. In this piece ‘Devil Boy’ wears the same dark crew-neck windcheater, gold chain and medallion. The background is finished with expressive sweeping dark brown brushstrokes.

The final two paintings in the installation hang to the far left and right of the group, at the same level as painting two, ‘Speak Mandarin, it’s an asset’. On the far left is ‘Devil Boy, tiger trinket’ measuring 50 centimetres in diameter with a green painted edge.

Brown, greys and murky greens inhabit the background of this round painting in which ‘Devil boy’ squats on his heels, his black fabric cap with its curved horn-like corners perched on his head. His arms hang loosely over his bent knees and from this squatting position he stares at the ground between his hands. The black fabric hat and shiny painted black boots are striking and reinforce the dark brown ring, that encircles his left index finger. The figure occupies about half the vertical space in the work. Three thin cords hang below the lower edge of the painting, they hold beads between spaced knots, the longer central cord carries a tiger charm.

On the facing wall is the seventh painting that hangs on the far right of the group, it’s titled ‘Devil Boy, rooster trinket’ also about 50 centimetres in diameter with a fabric edge, it dangles several threaded charms from three cords that hang below the piece.

Again ‘Devil boy’ is squatting, his black fabric cap with curved horn-like corners on his head. As in the work on the left, he looks down to a spot on the ground between his arms which hang loosely over his knees. He wears the same outfit, however this time the dark ring encircles the index finger of his right hand. His downwards gaze could be focusing on the string of trinkets that hang below the edge of the painting. The centre cord holds a rooster charm on a red thread, spaced between pale round beads. Expressive brushwork in the background of this round painting describes a pale, luminous empty space.

Alice Hu – paintings, ceramics

Alice Hu’s work consists of three paintings and a sculpture, all installed in the corner of the gallery.

On the ground is Hu’s sculpture, which consists of an array of white smashed ceramic pieces. The piece was not originally intended to be in pieces, but the large ceramic work broke in the kiln. In the corner of the room is the largest piece, a low white plinth, around 10cm high, 30cm across and 30cm deep. On the plinth is what looks like a hooded creature around 40cm high, with a long, skinny arm around itself. At the base of the creature are pieces that look like human-hand-sized webbed duck feet.

A little closer to us is another plinth of the same size. On this are many shattered pieces, including the top of a bird’s head around 20cm long. The head is slightly textured with veins at the top and scratches indicating feathers at the sides. A large, blank eyeball stares out from its head. A short beak tapers off to the right.

The plinths and the creature pieces are surrounded by many broken ceramic pieces, ranging from 30cm across to handsize to only a cm wide. The pieces are glazed white on one side, and bare pale brown clay on the other.

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On the wall to the right is Hu’s first painting. It is around 60cm square. Within the painting are many small black, white and grey figures, simple long, straight, verticle forms topped with small circular heads, joining together to form a larger, lifesize shape of a person’s head, shoulders and chest. Starting at the bottom of the painting, black figures begin the person’s chest; as we move up the painting the figures turn to grey, then paler grey at the neck. The figures within the head are white.

The background of the painting is the inverse; starting at the top, the figures are upside down and black, and they fade to grey, then white at the base.

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On the wall in front of us are two similar paintings of Hu’s. They are both around 50cm wide and 90cm high. In each, an elongated, simplified female figure is squished into the rectangle of the painting as though trapped in a cage. The figures are pale pink with minimal shading. The extremities of their bodies, hands, feet, shoulders, knees, are a darker pink, giving the figures an injured look.

The figure to the left sits with her legs drawn up to her chest, her right arm up against the side of the work. Her head leans against her right hand. The figure in the right painting is seated with her back against the right side of the painting, her knees pulled up against her chest. One leg is up with her foot pressing against the top of the work, and the other is pushing against the left side of the work, the foot turned up en pointe like a ballerina.

Each figure has empty black eye sockets, sadly curved up in the centre of the face.

Chris Yee, Tapestries, 2021

These three works by Chris Yee, are woven multi-coloured cotton tapestries that measure 54 inches x 72 inches (or 137 x 182 centimetres) they hang along their top edge via a series of small metal rings. The edges are finished with a short multi-coloured fluffy fringe of between 3-4 centimetres.

The colour palette is a mix of black, white, blue, green, red and beige threads. Twisting and overlapping threads create variations of these colours that also include a range of pink, dark maroon, various blues, purple and greens including a dark bottle green.

Yee’s designs are rich and intricate in nature and fluently combine numerous cultural influences.

Angels In Play

This tapestry is a complex design, three jagged lightning bolts blaze from the four corners striking towards the centre and focusing our gaze on the central dynamic anime-like angel that poses in traditional flowing robes (pyjamas). The feathered wings of the angel angle from low on the left to high on the right and a pale halo, hovers over their head.

Behind the angel a black and white symbol points to the four directions and surrounding that a geometric design in blue and greens references a circuit board, balancing the overall structure of the design. Above and below these central motifs, two triangular shapes with floral emblems point up and down and two roundels appear, one to the left and another on the right, again reinforcing the balance of the design.

The remainder of the background is divided into angular geometric shapes, these fields or bento box like divisions are filled with line-work that has a strong graphic quality and allude to tattoo designs. The colours in the outer regions of the tapestry are predominately red, black, browns and cream.

Mirror Ball

This tapestry is a harvest festival themed work, in the centre a blue and white globe-like mirror ball is surrounded by a white angular medallion. Surrounding this are four additional shapes, the red lines on the blue background describe four faces pointing in four different directions (possibly the winds).

Each of the four corners mirrors or reflects the design of the initial quarter. Beneath the blue central motif of the background that stretches vertically through the work like a painted medieval ceiling, is a dancing boy and girl, they clasp hands and the outstretched arms behind seems to reach to the girl and boy in the next corner, so it becomes a little like a child’s skipping dance, a ‘ring a ring a rosy’.

At the middle, between the top and bottom dancers, is a large bunch of grapes carried on a long pole. At the top and bottom of the design a large cream chrysanthemum is flanked by a red skinned figure that carries a basket of firewood on their back. Around the outer edge of each quarter three other figures play and run in an arc, they carry large leaves and twigs in their hands. Next to them a small pale horse cavorts, enjoying the fun.

Around the blue sky in the centre, green and cream edges transition to a predominantly red background. The large bunches of green foliage that break up the space between the blue and the red are reminiscent of looking up through trees to a blue sky beyond. At the outer edges of the tapestry zigzag elements in the corners suggest stairs or architectural features. A plain-woven border of red, blue, and cream stripes at the top and bottom of the tapestry complete the piece before the fringing.

Crossing Line

This tapestry is based on an archetypal dragon-like creature poised in the centre of the tapestry. This tiger head and paws combine with a churning, trailing serpent tail. The creature looks ready to pounce amid its striped and spotted camouflage-like fur, it’s strange scaly tail curl in mesmerising loops. Black vertical slits for eyes and jagged teeth dominate its intense face creating a stillness amongst the centre of this writhing piece.

Behind the creature a purple circle of geometric designs is surrounded with white peony-like flowers and a green leafy vine. Vertical and horizontal marks pointing in all four directions anchor the central motif of the dragon-like creature, and allude to the four directions- north, east, south, and west.

The crossing line, metaphorically, figuratively, and here practically is demonstrated by the colour change in the work. In the upper half of the tapestry the background is reddish brown in the lower half the background it is a dark purplish blue. Billowing cloud-like designs, leaf patterns and foliage in the upper half of the tapestry are mirrored in the water-like reflections below. In the corners pale-blue wave-like formations in the upper section are inverted and coloured green in the lower section.

The tapestry is bordered at top and bottom by a narrow checkerboard frieze, featuring a diagonal black and white V shaped pattern in the central third. Beyond the borders the short fringe edges the tapestry.

Shaye Du’o’ng, No Laughing, 2021, paraffin wax, paper, fixtures, 75 x 60cm

The final piece in the exhibition is another one from Shaye Du’o’ng, the first artist who made the paraffin wax shrine. No Laughing is a paraffin wax cast of a metal fireplace screen. The shape of the screen is replicated here in the white, translucent wax – a large, thin panel 75cm wide and 60cm high, with a small semi-circular handle at the top. On the flat face of the screen is a slightly raised relief design of two hunting dogs in a field. Embedded within the wax where the dogs’ faces would be are two wrappers from Laughing Cow cheese, showing the face of the red cartoon cow, its mouth open in laughter and earrings hanging from its ears. The earrings are round, and show the same pattern as the packets of Laughing Cow cheese.

This audio description was by Meg Riley and Jules Fielke for Nexus Arts and Access2Arts.