Painted Skin

Bitten Peach 分桃 is an exhibition inspired by a queer reading of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio 聊齋志異, a collection of classical Chinese stories by Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling (1640-1715). The studio, as a physical and symbolic space, functions as a gestalt—a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. In this exhibition, the studio embodies an aesthetic, cultural and sensual universe where historical narratives intertwine with contemporary queer identities.

Leong uses Asian gothic symbolism as a metaphor for haunting by heteronormative systems of power. In these tales the boundaries between the supernatural and everyday reality are fluid. In the artist’s imagination, fox spirits, ghosts, and demons exist between realms as genderless creatures of otherworldly power and sublime form, focused on enlightenment through sensual pleasure.

The erotic, as a profound expression of human desire in all its extraordinary intensity and richness, explores the depths and nuances of human nature and consciousness. By blending historical materials with contemporary forms, Leong has created a series of queer-coded sculptures that navigate the subtle interplay between past and present, desire and fantasy, self and other.

Lanterns and candles symbolically light the way for the ones that have passed, while also illuminating the unknown to be seen. A bronze ghost claw clutches a dripping candle on a melting bronze staircase, suggesting a delicate tension between worlds. Another claw digs its talons into a rose wood table, referencing a lustful and life-changing encounter with a ghost. A giant glass peach, traditionally symbolising immortality, swells with an intensity of emotions. Oversized silk teardrops convey a sense of longing through cartoon aesthetics. A fox tail suspended by chain sheds glass teardrops towards a porcelain ring on the floor, like a portal into another realm. Bleach paintings on deconstructed cotton bed sheets feature ghostly calligraphic characters drawn from classical Chinese literature, erotic poetry, and love letters.

For this project, award-winning author Tom Cho was commissioned to write a piece of creative fiction as a looking glass into the exhibition. The Whole Cannot be Understood Without Reference to its Holes 無缺亦無圓 is the story of a young scholar who makes love to an ink spirit that springs forth from his imagination, and reflects the theme of art making as an intimate encounter with the self. From Pu Songling’s studio to Cho's writing space and Leong’s artist studio to the gallery, this exhibition is a collaboration between artists and writers that unfolds through visual and literary mediums, connecting us across time and place.