Cindy Leung: A Borrowed Place on Borrowed Time, 2021-2022
I use Chinese exports – silk, tea and porcelain primarily in my work to address the complex relationship between consumerism, colonization and cultural hybridity, as they originated in the East and were popularized in the West through trading and colonization. I consider these materials being a part of my identity, given that I was born and raised in Hong Kong. The composition of the work is generated from a Chinese input method called Sucheng, in which each Chinese character is paired with an alphabet, to address the idea of code-switching. The interaction of the materials carries out actions; and I use these actions along with the materials as symbols to represent the interactions between the two languages/cultures. By making 26 materially hybrid objects with these specific materials and in the Sucheng system, I see my work as a way to create a visual manifestation of the hybridity in my identity and in my language.
