Worlds Beyond

Worlds Beyond presents a group of artists experimenting with abstraction through their use of material, drawing on subject matter that evokes both the concrete and physical as well as the unconscious and intangible aspects of experience. Artist Allison Reimus uses household items and found textiles to create familiar yet otherworldly spaces. For Reimus, abstraction means being able to explore ideas of motherhood, femininity and domesticity. Amy Hui Li explores the body through her abstract visual language. Li’s biological forms evoke veins and blood vessels, exploring our hidden emotions as well as processes of self-healing and repairing. Repetitively tearing and reshaping home-made felt materials, Li expresses fragility, brokenness and a drive towards intimacy.

Futuristic assemblies of colour in the works of Ce Jian explore the boundaries between human and technical worlds. Fantastical creatures are modelled on the anatomy of robots, blending technical components with more fluid forms drawn from art history and the natural world. Similarly, Fu Site uses traditional techniques of light and shadow to layer mystery into his artworks. By subtly combining fragmented images and overlapping narrative, Fu Site deprives his scenes of logical coherence to provoke an overriding sense of ambiguity. In a similar vein, Alba Botines’ abstract canvases are filled with fluid forms that reflect our ever-changing relationships to the world around us. Botines reflects on the changeability of modern life through imaginary spaces that uncover ideas of chaos, decay, growth and transition. Reflecting on her own personal journey and background, Betty Leung uses an AI tool to combine two separate images that reflect her identity, allowing the algorithm to generate a hybrid third image. This image is then weaved through and moulded, allowing Leung to give the imagery new narratives, pulling the viewer in with elaborate and intricate compositions that merely whisper the original stories. 

Worlds Beyond therefore presents a group of artists using abstraction to visualise both the physical and mental aspects of human experience. Abstract forms lead the way to notions of memory, identity, relationships and our own bodies. Colour, line and pattern interact to produce varying degrees of tension and sensation. Straddling a threshold between our world and another, shapes overlap and interlock across the surface of a canvas or the weave of textiles, creating numerous configurations that allow us to reflect on the movement of the world around us.