Leelee Chan 陳麗同
Moth (Blinded Sphinx) 蛾（失明斯芬克斯）, 2023
found plastic shipping pallets, petrified wood, stainless steel hardware, epoxy, pigment 拾得塑料运输托盘，木化石，不锈钢硬件，环氧树脂，颜料
115.5 x 12.5 x 28.5 cm
45 1/2 x 5 x 11 in
45 1/2 x 5 x 11 in
更多图片
In Moth (2023), Moth (Blinded Sphinx) (2023) and Moth (Silver Cloud) (2023), Chan carves from shipping pallets sharp triangular fragments that hang on the wall like resting moths in a...
In Moth (2023), Moth (Blinded Sphinx) (2023) and Moth (Silver Cloud) (2023), Chan carves from shipping pallets sharp triangular fragments that hang on the wall like resting moths in a cave. Their plastic surfaces are smoothed over with clay to assimilate petrified wood inlays and natural magnesium. Appearing more viscous than lithic, these sculptures beckon us to once again surmise carefully-could they be strange gothic relics, or organic tar fossils of some winged creature that once fluttered with zest like the short-lived arthropods in Virginia Woolf's The Death of the Moth (1942)? - Joyce Hei-ting Wong
《蛾》（2023）、《蛾（失明斯芬克斯）》（2023）和《蛾（银云）》（2023）均由尖锐的三角托盘残块组成，挂在墙上状似休憩在洞穴里合拢双翼、竖立成扇的飞蛾一般。原本的塑胶面被粘土形塑得平滑无缝，与硅化木和天然镁石料糅合为一，奇特的结合不禁让人遐想--这些到底是怪异的哥德式遗迹碎片，还是残存了某种飞兽的焦油化石，而他们曾经也像弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫在《飞蛾之死》（1942）里提到的短命蝶蛾一样顽强地扑腾起舞过？——黄熙婷
****
The work weaves together cultural meanings drawn from both Eastern and Western traditions. In Chinese folk belief, moths are often understood as physical manifestations of recently departed relatives returning to visit the living, carrying with them a sense of protection, remembrance, and unresolved presence. In Western literature, the moth appears as a symbol of life’s vulnerability and fleetingness — most notably in Virginia Woolf’s writing, where the moth becomes a metaphor for the fragile persistence of being.
By placing these moths within the exhibition space, Leelee Chan invites viewers to move with heightened attentiveness, noticing what is quiet, peripheral, and easily missed. The work becomes both a guide and a reminder: that meaning often resides not in spectacle, but in what lingers softly at the edge of perception.
*****
“In Moth (2023), Chan reconfigures found shipping pallets and petrified wood into fragile, wing-like structures, subtly evoking the Chinese belief that moths are spirits of deceased loved ones visiting. The work compresses layered temporalities—human time, embodied in the sculpting of plastic and clay; deep time, reflected in the petrified wood; and the ephemeral life cycle of the moth—
blurring boundaries between synthetic debris and organic memory.”
-Tersea Retzer
《蛾》（2023）、《蛾（失明斯芬克斯）》（2023）和《蛾（银云）》（2023）均由尖锐的三角托盘残块组成，挂在墙上状似休憩在洞穴里合拢双翼、竖立成扇的飞蛾一般。原本的塑胶面被粘土形塑得平滑无缝，与硅化木和天然镁石料糅合为一，奇特的结合不禁让人遐想--这些到底是怪异的哥德式遗迹碎片，还是残存了某种飞兽的焦油化石，而他们曾经也像弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫在《飞蛾之死》（1942）里提到的短命蝶蛾一样顽强地扑腾起舞过？——黄熙婷
****
The work weaves together cultural meanings drawn from both Eastern and Western traditions. In Chinese folk belief, moths are often understood as physical manifestations of recently departed relatives returning to visit the living, carrying with them a sense of protection, remembrance, and unresolved presence. In Western literature, the moth appears as a symbol of life’s vulnerability and fleetingness — most notably in Virginia Woolf’s writing, where the moth becomes a metaphor for the fragile persistence of being.
By placing these moths within the exhibition space, Leelee Chan invites viewers to move with heightened attentiveness, noticing what is quiet, peripheral, and easily missed. The work becomes both a guide and a reminder: that meaning often resides not in spectacle, but in what lingers softly at the edge of perception.
*****
“In Moth (2023), Chan reconfigures found shipping pallets and petrified wood into fragile, wing-like structures, subtly evoking the Chinese belief that moths are spirits of deceased loved ones visiting. The work compresses layered temporalities—human time, embodied in the sculpting of plastic and clay; deep time, reflected in the petrified wood; and the ephemeral life cycle of the moth—
blurring boundaries between synthetic debris and organic memory.”
-Tersea Retzer
