FROM THE TIME I FIRST SET FOOT IN THIS COUNTRY 13 YEARS AGO, TO FINISH HIGH SCHOOL IN A RURAL AMERICAN CITY, THROUGH RECEIVING MY MFA DEGREE IN BROOKLYN, IN 2004, I HAVE LIVED IN 11 DIFFERENT APARTMENTS, MOVING FROM ARID DESERT TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, TO NEW YORK CITY. LATELY, MY TRAVEL NEEDS HAVE MADE ME A FREQUENT HOTEL GUEST. AS I MOVED I ACCUMULATED INANIMATE OBJECTS I COULDN’T BEAR TO PART WITH. EACH SERVES AS A POWERFUL REMINDER OF A PARTICULAR ERA IN MY LIFE, OR CREATES A SENSE OF HOME WHILE I AM AWAY. IN MY ART, I USE THESE SAME OBJECTS AS PROXIES FOR HOW MY LIFE IS PERPETUALLY IN TRANSIT.
PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN OF APARTMENTS I’VE LIVED IN AND HOTEL ROOMS I’VE STAYED IN ARE ‘UPDATED’ WITH ACRYLIC PAINT IN A MANNER SIMILAR TO ‘WHITING-OUT’ A DOCUMENT, ‘REMOVING’ THE PERSONS AND BELONGINGS THAT ARE NO LONGER PRESENT AFTER I VACATED. BEING FULLY AWARE OF THE TEXTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SPACE AND THE PAINTED SURFACE, AND ALLOWING THE AUDIENCE TO DETECT THE ALTERATION AND COVER-UP EFFORT, I AM COMMUNICATING HOW I OFTEN FEEL WHEN TAKING A LAST LOOK AT THE NOW-FOREIGN SPACE I ONCE OCCUPIED. NO MATTE HOW WELL I HAVE RESTORED THE APARTMENT/ROOM TO ITS ORIGINAL CONDITION, THE MEMORY OF MY OCCUPATION LINGERS.
DURING ALL THIS TIME AND ALL OF THESE CHANGES IN MY ENVIRONMENT, I NEVER STOPPED BEING INQUISITIVE AND CURIOS ABOUT THE HUMAN CONDITIONS THAT SURROUNDED ME, ESPECIALLY THE PROCESS OF CHANGE; HOW CIRCUMSTANCES AFFECT THE DECISIONS AND CHOICES THAT WE MAKE, AND HOW THESE DECISIONS LEAD TO THE DIFFERENT ROADS WE FIND OURSELVES ON. DESPITE THE DIFFERENT PATHS WE MAY TAKE, MY WORK ATTEMPTS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE CYCLICAL NATURE AND PERPETUALNESS OF THE HUMAN LIFE, WHERE CERTAIN HUMAN EXPERIENCES, SENTIMENTS AND EMOTIONS ARE MORE OR LESS UNIVERSAL.
EUGENIE TUNG
