Wang Chen

The Rabbit Hole is an early piece from 2017 by artist Wang Chen, presentinga multi-channel video installation combing digital drawing, sculpture, and performance. This earlier piece marks the beginning of their artistic exploration into the fluid boundaries between physical and imagined spaces by examining the interplay of perception and environment.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

In The Rabbit Hole, Wang Chen connects personal experiences through performance, celebration, play, and humor. The compulsory concepts of gender and identity imposed by society begin to morph into a future expression of all possibilities. It is pivotal in understanding the artist’s developmental path and the foundational concepts that inform their current practice. The Rabbit Hole offers an opportunity to witness the early stages of the artist’s evolving artistic expression.

In the space, formal elements are arranged to create a sense of disorientation that expands the boundaries of the physical body: constructed biomorphic forms entangle and pulsate, creating an arena where the awareness of one’s body and place is in an ever-evolving state. The artwork offers an open, interpretive space that could be seen as fetishized, playful, confusing, confrontational, pleasurable, or relaxing.

Referencing Lewis Carrol’s novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, in which Alice chases a white rabbit and falls down the rabbit hole, where she then enters a state of ever-changing bodily dimensions and mental perceptions. Alice becomes confused with her identity and is stimulated to find herself in such a strange place, which also triggered her curiosity and sparked her spiritual awakening.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Wang Chen’s work incorporates digital video, performance, 3D game design, sculpture, drawing, costume fabrication and sound design. By layering these different mediums, Wang constructs immersive alternate realities that probe the intersections of myth, imagination, and identity across both physical and virtual landscapes, crafting dreamscapes that envelop the viewer.

Wang Chen (b.1991) received a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University (2014) and an MFA in Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology (2018). Wang has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at Fotografiska in Stockholm, Sweden, Roswell Museum, New Mexico, Lauren Powell Project, Los Angeles, The Immigrant Artist Biennial, NYC, Alfred University, and Crosstown Art Center in Memphis.

Wang’s fellowships, awards, and residencies include New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellow (Interdisciplinary), MacDowell Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, NARS Artist Foundation in Brooklyn, and Roswell Artist in Residency.