Spine, a new sculpture Chan produced during the three months she lived in Shanghai, takes its inspiration by the wheel display she saw in a hardware shop in Hong Kong, particularly in the way the items were placed. It prompted her to think how she could create animated motion through placement and repetition.
Wheels are often placed underneath something. Looking at them on eye level creates a consciousness of the relationship between our body and the wheel.
Composed of 24 wheels, each wheel is covered by a layer of marbled pattern air dry clay.
The wheel structure is playfully painted in nude and muster yellow colour. This handcrafted quality juxtapose with the cold industrial quality of the ready-made wheel.
Together, they provoke an uncanny reminiscence of a spine, octopus suckers, curling fern leaves and even a Tang Dynasty marble pattern pottery.