What happens when you bring together the natural and the artificial? Ask Trevor Yeung, whose practice questions human-made advancements and how these objects re-signify their original counterparts. In his new solo show, titled Il più vicinon e il più lontano, il più chiaro e il più scuro, the Hong Kong-based artist presents two of his most famous series, influenced by Chinese mythology and human impact on the natural environment.
On view at Rome’s T293 art gallery until the 17th of April, Yeung’s exhibition plays with several dichotomies — light vs shadow, humanmade vs natural, order vs chaos. Because life is made of opposites, and through his art, the Chinese artist aims to explore that delicate balance between some of them.
Hanging from the ceiling, the chandeliers that make up his Chaotic Suns (Transitioning) series are the first to catch our eye. These sculptures made of several lightbulbs that vary in intensity, warmth, and colour, draw from the ancient Chinese myth of Hou Yi, who shot down nine of the ten suns to restore the universe’s balance. As the exhibition text reads, “each chandelier symbolises the precariousness of existence — where order and disorder are not opposites but forces in constant dialogue: chaos serves as the intrinsic origin of order.”
On the other hand, when we look down, it’s a scattered group of complex sculptures plugged into the walls that make our imagination wonder. They’re part of Yeung’s Night Mushroom Colon series, made up of night lamps shaped as mushrooms interconnected through various converters. Again, varying in colour and intensity, these organic-like forms remind us of bioluminescence — something you might be familiar if you’ve travelled to places like Mexico or if you’ve watched Hayao Miayazaki’s Princess Mononoke. Their disorderly growth tries to emulate how fungi exist out in the real world, making a meta commentary on how humans try to ‘put order’ into nature’s chaos without ever fully succeeding.
The exhibition Il più vicinon e il più lontano, il più chiaro e il più scuro by Trevor Yeung is on view until the 17th of April at T239, Via Ripense 6, Roma, Italy.
