LANGUID CELLS
(LONDON · UK · 2025)
PAINTING COLLAGE SCULPURE
LANGUID CELLS IS A PROJECT CENTERED ON THE UNINTENTIONAL ACT OF PAINTING—AN EMBRACE OF ACCIDENT, RESIDUE, AND THE OVERLOOKED. CONSTRUCTED FROM FRAGMENTS OF UNFINISHED CANVASES, TORN FABRIC, AND FLOOR COVERINGS ONCE USED TO CATCH DRIPS AND SPILLS, THE WORK TRANSFORMS WHAT WAS ONCE PERIPHERAL INTO SOMETHING PRIMARY. THESE DISCARDED MATERIALS, OFTEN MARKED BY INVOLUNTARY GESTURES AND INCIDENTAL COLOR, ARE GATHERED, RIPPED, AND COLLAGED INTO A NEW FORM—A KIND OF AFTERIMAGE OF THE PAINTING PROCESS ITSELF.
THE PROJECT OPERATES LIKE A COLLECTION OF CELLS—
EACH FRAGMENT A SMALL, AUTONOMOUS RECORD OF MOTION, FAILURE, OR INDECISIO.
TOGETHER, THEY FORM A BODY. THEIR LANGUIDNESS IS BOTH LITERAL AND METAPHORICAL: THE MATERIALS SLUMP, WRINKLE, AND BLEED, EVOKING SOMETHING BODILY, SOFT, EVEN WOUNDED. THE CIRCULAR MARKS THAT HAUNT MUCH OF MY PRACTICE APPEAR HERE TOO, PARTIALLY BURIED OR BROKEN—SYMBOLS OF AN OBSESSIVE SEARCH FOR A SHAPE THAT REFUSES TO BE FOUND.
AS SOMEONE WHO IS COLOR-BLIND, I AM DRAWN TO MATERIALS I CAN’T FULLY PERCEIVE, LIKE RED.
THESE WORKS REFLECT THAT AMBIGUITY—TONES DRIFT AND COLLAPSE INTO ONE ANOTHER, BECOMING UNSTABLE, INDECIPHERABLE. WHAT EMERGES IS NOT A COMPOSITION IN THE TRADITIONAL SENSE, BUT A PALIMPSEST OF FAILED MOMENTS, UNINTENTIONAL BEAUTY, AND UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS.
LANGUID CELLS ISN’T ABOUT CRAFTING A PERFECT OBJECT. IT’S ABOUT ASSEMBLING AND IMBECILICALLY REPAIRING THE BYPRODUCTS OF A PAINTING LIFE—WHAT'S USUALLY HIDDEN BENEATH THE "FINISHED" WORK—AND TURNING THEM INTO A KIND OF MAP. A QUIET ARCHITECTURE OF ALL THE THINGS PAINTING LEAVES BEHIND.
I BEGAN BY PUTTING TOGETHER A SCULPTURAL WORK. I USED EVERY DAY ITEMS AND DESTROYED THEIR FUNCTIONALITY.
I THEN PHOTOGRAPHED AND EXPOSED THE WORK ONTO A SCREEN IN ORDER TO SCREEN PRINT IT ONTO A FABRIC. IN A WAY THAT CLOTHING IS COMPLIMENTED BY ACCESSORIES, I WANTED TO SIMULATE THE PRESENCE OF A PHYSICAL OBJECT THAT SERVED NO PURPOSE EVEN MORE BY PUTTING IT ON A TANK TOP THAT IS BOUND TO BE HIDDEN BY ANOTHER LAYER. FURTHERMORE, THE ACTION OF GOING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL SOMEWHAT RIPPED THE SOUL OUT OF THE WORK AND ICONISED IT OVER THE FABRIC.
THE PROJECT CONCLUDED IN A LARGE SCULPTURAL PIECE THAT REPURPOSED MULTIPLE LAYERS FROM FORGOTTEN CANVASES AND DISCARDED ITEMS AROUND THEM. WALLPAPERS WERE GLUED AND SCREEN PRINTED, THEN RIPPED AND ERASED.
AT THE END, LANGUID CELLS BECAME A RECLAMATION OF THE FRAGMENTS—AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE SENSE OF WHAT IS USUALLY FORGOTTEN OR OVERLOOKED. IT REFLECTS A DESIRE TO UNDERSTAND PAINTING NOT ONLY THROUGH WHAT IS MADE WITH INTENTION, BUT THROUGH WHAT IS LEFT BEHIND—THE STUTTERS, THE ACCIDENTS, THE UNTRANSLATED. IT IS A PROJECT ABOUT LISTENING TO WHAT THE MATERIALS SAY WHEN I’M NO LONGER TRYING TO SPEAK FOR THEM.