I Made a Boat in Prison (Painting)
The paintings depict fences with colored lines. By intentionally leaving lines missing, the artist transforms the representation of a fence into an object that addresses fragility and permeability.
672 lines in silver, 2019
Isaac Chong Wai
Silver leaf and acrylic on canvas
200 x 150 x 3cm
Installation view at Innsbruck Biennale 2020
Isaac Chong Wai’s paintings depicting fences with coloured lines respiring contexture to the idea of incarceration. The malfunction of a missing part of the fence here collides with an ambiguous abstraction. Both in political or metaphorical senses, these works tackle the inevitable ways in which representations evolve, retrograde and interweave. The lines, which appear intact, in reality, barely touch each other: the concept of a bordering fence remains fragile, impotent and even permeable.
© Innsbruck International/ WEST.Fotostudio
112 lines in blue, 2020
Isaac Chong Wai
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 50cm
314 lines in blue, 2019
Isaac Chong Wai
Acrylic on canvas
80 x 120cm
113 lines in blue, 2019
Isaac Chong Wai
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 50cm
115 lines in blue, 2020
Isaac Chong Wai
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 50cm
114 lines in blue, 2020
Isaac Chong Wai
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 50cm