I Yen Chen

The desires behind individual will and actions are both valued and amplified in contemporary society. The occurrence and results of events are often attributed to one’s free will. But how many people are aware of their kinetic energy and intentions at the moment of action? I am like a lamb, guided, driven, intimidated, and domesticated under the collective unconsciousness, and I cannot refuse. Our will and body are constantly confronting and colliding with the framework of society, and fighting each other at close hand.

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These invisible frameworks and barriers are often reduced to a term called “destiny.” We give this name to all forces that cannot be resisted, even if just to mark a place. Perhaps destiny does not show its teeth and claws, maybe it is actually very light, so light that you won't notice its movement, or its force. The artist uses the movement of clouds to imagine the shape of destiny, and compares the relationship between individuals and destiny by using one’s state of consciousness while looking at the clouds as a metaphor. This is an imagination about initiative. In the process of pursuing one’s initiative, we give names to things. To endow things with meanings, we use our own experience and understanding to explain the world as much as possible, thus to feel settled and identified with the surroundings.

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Looking at the Clouds — Imagining Agency contains Chen’s creative circuit from 2016. It contains three ongoing projects, “The Universe is Untitled,”  “A Very Blessed Person,” and “Petals.” These works record her life over the last several years. They portray how the artist uses art to anchor herself in the process of moving; and how to go to move great distances even when one cannot travel far.

 

Link to the Online EXPO:​
https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/7809453/c01-%E7%B5%95%E5%B0%8D%E7%A9%BA%E9%96%93-x-%E4%BC%97%E8%97%9D%E8%A1%93?fbclid=IwAR1HOqjmM4eX7cxGe4pL-6uYLt4uA0Iu4DRqNsrlpRzH6Nf1oLYVhx_86kE