Chih-Chien Wang

Chih-Chien Wang’s photographs are colourful documents of the intricacies of banal beauty. Wang’s perceptive eye tells a story of life’s aesthetic impermanence, particularly in the context of his experience with international migration. Nest (2007) is an installation based on a sound-reactive light mechanism that illuminates the space underneath a bridge, a place of passage and interconnection. Nest illustrates how the fluctuating vibrancy of our daily exchanges characterizes urban life.

Chih-Chien Wang
Born in Tainan, Taïwan, in 1970
Lives and works in Montréal, Canada

Chih-Chien Wang’s photography, video, film and installation work is informed by his observation that the artist and subject, united in a performative dynamic, create abstracted narratives of life that are articulated through time and light. Through this interactive process, the subject reveals its character and the artist engages in an act of social documentation and creative expression. As with the images exhibited in The Centre of the Forest Is a Lake-Like Mirror (2004-2005) and Exquisite Fruit Cadaver (2006), the camera bears witness to the material and physical process of being. Wang’s work expresses an acute awareness of how ordinary beauty shapes the space we inhabit and influences identity transformation. Photos of colourful, intricate and strange objects like food and plants are playfully juxtaposed to emphasize the simple beauty and impermanence of our daily lives. Similarly, in Yushan Is Here (2007), the subject embodies the fluctuating emotional states and gestures that one uses as deflective tactics to deal with the surprises of life. This series is a fragmented visual discourse that expresses Yushan’s sensually surreal existence. In a related departure from Wang’s photography, Nest (2007) is an installation based on a sound reactive light mechanism that illuminates the space underneath a bridge, a place of passage and interconnection. Nest illustrates how the fluctuating vibrancy of our daily exchanges characterizes urban lifestyle.