Wave Finding
Ongoing
Wave Finding is a series of stone sculptures, each a vessel of memory, each asking for a reciprocal act of remembrance. The stone in each piece carries its own story, a history of being cast off, left behind, deemed waste in the aftermath of construction and repair. Reclaimed, they find new purpose. Their patterns and shapes are drawn from meteorology and hydrography maps, maps that fix us in place, help us understand our surroundings, capture a moment in time. Scientific maps, in particular, mark a world in motion, a fleeting record of tides, currents, and pressures. Here, the patterns themselves become anchors, offering the audience a way to locate themselves. Each piece is a quiet provocation, urging the viewer to consider our brief existence against the vastness of deep time. The stones have eyes; they have ears. They observe, they listen. They store. They still bear the shape of where we once were.
ARTIFACT INSTALLATION
The Dust Between Our Nails and Fingertips
2024
The Dust Between Our Nails and Fingertips digitally engraves a slab of stone to mimic petroglyph handprints on mountain cliffs; it asks if the toil of a machine can transmute the emotive gravity of handprints made over thousands of years.
The project features a custom CNC stone carver in an anthropomorphic frame, posing as a creature suspended between past and present. Influenced by quarry stone cutting techniques, a custom diamond tool produces markings akin to those created by a human fingertip, slowly etching out a stone slab, turning solid to dust, and leaving marks of labor.
INSTALLATION
Sentimental Attractors
2022
As we move through life, we inherit the residual impacts
of traumas endured by our parents, grandparents, and
ancestors. The Dupin cyclide, a torus with varying
radii, stands as a potent representation. In Sentimental Attractors,
intertwined Dupin cyclides grapple with each other,
their existence interdependent yet in constant tension. Accompanying each sculpture is a poem, a poignant
expression of the emotions stirred by this intricate
interplay of how we choose to define ourselves while accepting who we are.
ARTIFACT
Meander Elsewhere
Ongoing
Familiarity makes us feel at ease, makes us feel at home. As an immigrant’s child who has dwelt between two lands, a sense of rootedness has always been emphasized. Through traveling, landscapes resemble the scenery outside my childhood window, and the view outside my apartment has always brought me comfort. This resemblance creates a sense of familiarity, allowing me to grasp the warmth of home wherever I am.
This project is an attempt to explore familiarity & uncanny scenery by abstracting Chinese gardens to build a discernment of home.
INSTALLATION
“Pilgrimage to the West”
2019
Since 1950, Tibet had constant uprisings and protests
against the communist regime and its suppression of
religion. Following the rebellion of 1959, there used to
be 2,700 temples and monasteries with 114,000 monks
and 1,600 “living Buddhas.” The liberation army reduced
the monasteries to 550 with 6,900 monks. Then came
Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1978, and only eight
monasteries with 970 monks remained. From 1978 until 1987, only 230 monasteries have been renovated or
rebuilt. This project is a commentary that speculates on Tibet’s past, present,
and future; to display a land that’s caught between modernization and genocide of traditions.
INSTALLATION SPECULATIVE
Thousand Temples in Tibet
2018
The harshest living conditions are not caused by nature,
but by man. Almost 70 years after the People’s Republic of China (PRC) overpowered Tibet, the
plateau still suffers the effects of the communist regime.
While colonization brings the land infrastructure and
wealth, the Tibetan identity is threatened by Sinicization—
cultural assimilation by the Han ethnicity. Tibetans have
responded with protests and uprisings. The central
government responded with suppression by force,
silencing the region.
In light of the Global Tibet Movement, this project uses a 3D printer to juxtapose Tibetan culture and PRC’s vision
visually. Through visual means, it will show the typology of
colonization.
INSTALLATION SPECULATIVE
Digital Ritual
2018
How have daily rituals evolved in the digital age? We
have always been the performers of rituals, whether it is
praying or unlocking our phone, we use our hands to
communicate to “higher power”. Digital Rituals is a
collection of digital sign language created by individuals
connected by technology.
INSTALLATION SPECULATIVE
Instagram, Vimeo, Are.na, Email
© 2019-2025 Cheng Qin.
All rights reserved.