resurgent artefacts
Iteration 3 - Artist Book (forthcoming)
takes documentation from the project’s various iterations, artist statements and process work, and combines them into a hand-bound artist book. Produced in a limited edition of 25 copies, featuring hardcover and Japanese stab stitch binding, this artist book will become available in the spring of 2026.Iteration 2 - Prints
featured smaller canvases, handpulled paper sheets made with cotton rag that featured a watermark, created by affixing a 3D-printed stencil to a mould and deckle (thanks to Boris Yu for the stencil and Flora Shum for the watermark expertise). These papers were hand-pulled at Paperhouse Studio and subsequently used by artists Jasmine Gui, Abby Ho, and Justine Wong to create a set of 7 prints each. Each artist chose to engage with the in/visibility of the watermark differently, using techniques from watercolour, embroidery, collage, markmaking, stamp carving, and papercutting to consider the performance, impact and affect of memory.
The photo documentation below demonstrates the prints’ capacity to shift and reveal when presented through a customized lightbox.
Iteration 1 - Installation
was presented at atif khan’s curatorial show, my final prayer at Art Museum 2023. It was a collaborative physical installation between Gui, and two other artists: Abby Ho and Justine Wong and involves the presentation of three paper talismans hung around a rain shower speaker playing a discordant choral audio recording of the poem as read by all three artists. The poem text was installed in 8 ft by 3 ft vinyl on the adjacent wall as a written record.The installation brings together various forms of incantation and symbology to reflect on the elusive posture of memory.
The three paper talismans (each 8 ft by 3 ft) take their basic structure of head, belly and feet from Daoist talismans, of which there are many variations. In resurgent artefacts, the bellies of these talismans have been filled with each artist’s own negotiation with memory, anxiety, restlessness and grief. Vestiges of memory, debris and remnant are churned up in the talisman bellies. They reflect each artist’s own bellied responses to the poem-as-incantation. Whether or not these artefacts are being called up or pushed away, however, remains an intention known only to the artists themselves.
All photo documentation c/o Mike Tjioe
Paper Talismans, 8 ft by 3 ft, washi, natural dye, indian ink
Talisman by Justine Wong
Talisman by Jasmine Gui
Talisman by Abby Ho
