Ground Conditions:
Section 1-1 / 2-1
2026 / gold cardboard, greyboard / 100 x 60 x 5.5cm (each panel)
Ground Conditions: Section 1–1 / 2–1 is conceived as a pair of sectional exposures rather than complete images or symbolic tableaux. The work adopts the logic of a section to resist full disclosure, allowing space for imagination and reflection instead of presenting a resolved or didactic image. What is revealed is partial, suggesting that what remains concealed is both substantial and consequential.
Greyboard occupies the majority of each panel. It functions as “ground,” representing shared history, heritage, and collective conditions that are often accepted as neutral. Here, neutrality is understood not as an absence of position, but as something constructed, reinforced, and maintained. It can operate as a political convenience or a form of self-protection, smoothing over what lies beneath. The scale and dominance of the greyboard surface emphasise this act of covering rather than absence.
Beneath the surface, fragments of densely layered gold cardboard emerge through narrow openings. These glimpses are intentionally restrained. Partial revelation is used to create tension, inviting viewers to imagine what is withheld rather than consuming a complete image. The work does not seek to expose everything, but to make viewers aware of how much remains unseen.
Material choices reinforce this dynamic. Greyboard, made from recycled newsprint and forest trimmings, compresses stories, histories, and cultural memory into a utilitarian material associated with the everyday and the masses. Gold cardboard, by contrast, carries strong emotional and symbolic weight. It seduces through excess, yet also evokes discomfort when overused, reflecting the uneasy relationship between value, belief, and desire.
The gold elements reference both mythical and technological systems, not as past and present, but as parallel expressions of humanity’s ongoing reliance on power and control. These forms persist across time, shifting in language rather than in essence. The work invites slow scrutiny, allowing meaning to unfold gradually through looking, questioning, and self-reflection.
First exhibited at Cuturi Gallery, Singapore, 2025, as part of the Cuturi Window Series 01