mirrorsblack series

mirrorsblack suggests my ambiguity about the future, and the sense that one can never get a complete picture from any singular perspective.

mirrorsblack literalizes a viewer experience of the “dissolution of the self” (Claire Bishop, Installation Art: A Critical History, Routledge, 2005). I’m skeptical of the idea that artists are responsible for supplying transcendent experiences. By putting the viewer (or at least, his or her partial reflections) into the work, I’m exploring whose expectations and meanings are projected onto art objects.

mirrorsblack was commissioned in 2009 for Bellwether at Southern Exposure in San Francisco. An exhibition catalog—including an essay on mirrorsblack—is available. Whitney Lynn’s Bug Out Location appears in the background of some photos. The artist would like to thank Southern Exposure, Courtney Fink, Maysoun Wazwaz, Michael Yap, Brian Barreto and Michelle Blade for their confidence, support and generosity.

mirrorsblackportrait was on view in The Black Portrait at Rush Arts Gallery through May 16, 2011. Special thanks to Hank Willis Thomas, Natasha L. Logan, and Charlotte Mouquin for their support.

Caption: Christine Wong Yap, mirrorsblack, 2009, wood, mirrors, spraypaint, lights, casters, 36 × 66 x 36 inches / 1 × 1.6 × 1 m // mirrorsblackportrait, 2011, mirrors, paint, frames, wire, motor, hardware; 112 x 21 x 21 in / 2.8 m x 0.5 x 0.5 m (site variable) // Two-Way Window, 2009, acrylic, paper, matboard, frame, 16 x 20 inches, 41 x 51 cm