Sapira Cheuk

Artist Statement

Workstatement:
Around late 2024, at the time this work emerged in my consciousness, what I felt was described succinctly in Ugly Feelings by Sianne Ngai: “Disgust… I can’t move beyond the negative feeling, there is not even room for action. It is a mediation of utter despair”. This work reflects the empathy, frustration, hopelessness, and sadness I experienced yet could not remedy. I translate these feelings into shadows of bodies without substances, barely staying on the hangers in stillness and inaction.

Personal notes:
This work reflects the state in which we continue to live under this administration. The installation includes wire hangers supporting shadow figures made from ink on Duralar, draped limply over the frames. These lifeless figures are drawn from images of war, acts of violence, and atomic shadows—the dark outlines of people seared into surfaces by nuclear bombs. The hangers function as multilayered symbols: they reference dangerous abortion practices while also evoking the act of carrying on with daily life amid turmoil, like putting on a costume to perform one's expected role. Depending on available space, this installation can include anywhere from one to eight figures.

Artist Statement:
I am interested in proprioception, ways of knowing through the body, and how these modes of knowledge reflect or internalize external experiences. My works seek out instances where the process of experiencing ultimately results in understanding and knowledge, that stems from physical and bodily events. My interest originates from the dynamics of interpersonal memories, and has since evolved into themes such as aesthetic labor, and ownership; physical isolation, and virtual connections; and cellular alterations through trauma, and psychological recoveries. While these ideas tend to be wide-ranging, my aesthetic choices are firmly based on ink and paper. As I was born in Hong Kong, Chinese Sumi painting aesthetics and materials heavily influenced my practice. The ink used is a specific blend of soluble and insoluble inks to create the effects characteristic to my work. The smooth gradation and abrupt fractures that exist simultaneously in each figure represents my experiences as an immigrant, negotiating two different cultures, values, and operating systems.