Dissection

Syringe-painted acrylic, string, color pencils, bandages, screws, and pigment pen on canvas and canvas frames
By: Anwen Wong
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Artist Statement:

Once, I had been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. This work seeks to explore my personal experience of the significant time I faced in the hospital, and how tumultuous it was for me. My work paints a story of the overwhelming experience, which mainly consisted of anxiety and pain, resulting from the medical procedures and the long road to recovery.

Taking inspiration from book-like structures, the piece references images and marks one might see in a biology or medical book. Within the painted portion itself, I used needle syringes to apply the paint, which highlights the frequent usage of them and how it is a tool that can inflict pain. Wooden frames were also used to create a book-like structure to not only signify layers to the experience, but a narrative too. Furthermore, drawings on the frames depict specific medical procedures or human veins, and I strung the layers of my human face (from the skin to bone) in a way that allows it to hang freely, taking reference from the idiom, “hanging by a thread”. Every tool and medium I used has a specific relevance in my journey in fighting against this illness.

I would want my viewers to question every tool used in my work and every mark made. I want them to question why I had done so, and what it might suggest about this journey. If they have gone through something similar, I hope they find some comfort in relating their experience to mine.

By: Anwen Wong

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