Created By
William Tong
Mixed media sclupture
Curator
Luke Chapman
William Tong’s Temphouses occupy a fascinating space – they are, in essence, relic-scapes. These constructed environments evoke phantom settlements, seemingly adrift in the currents of memory and washed ashore in our present consciousness. The palpable tension within Tong's work lies in his engagement with materiality. He embraces the aesthetics of decay – the frayed edges, the corrosion, the suggestion of disintegration – yet imbues it with a delicate, almost reverential sensibility. In doing so, he suggests that within the processes of deterioration lies a distinct beauty and a profound sense of truth. The pervasive theme of transience is also critical to understanding the work. These are not monuments to permanence; they are provisional shelters, way stations on an indeterminate journey. They resonate with themes of migration and the search for belonging in an ever-shifting world. Tong captures something fundamental about the human condition: the quest for stability amidst inherent fragility. He is an archaeologist of the human spirit, unearthing remnants of resilience within the ruins. Profound, and yet deeply affecting.
Tong's sculpture manifests as a derelict vessel, evoking maritime history and the poetics of abandonment. Constructed from layered, patinated materials, the form suggests a decaying junk or perhaps a repurposed dwelling, redolent with the textures of salvaged existence. The "sail," an ovoid form of roughly textured material bound with cordage, introduces a visual weight and implies a cessation of movement, anchoring the ethereal nature of the work. Light permeates the skeletal structure, generating nuanced shadow play that accentuates the sculpture's elegiac qualities. The fenestrated apertures hint at interior narratives, lives lived within this crumbling architecture, while the visible support structures underscore a sense of ongoing repair and adaptation. This is not simply a static object, but a crystallized moment of entropy, a meditation on ephemerality, a visual elegy rendered in rust and rope.
Created By
William Tong
50 x 53 cm | 20 x 21 in
22 cm | 9 in
2020
