Mattie Wang

A question that has concerned me for some time: how can artistic work embody resistance and give way to individual and collective agency? I have been in search of practices grounded in a present and generous sense of place. Each encounter with such an object, person, or environment, affirms a view of this world as interdependent and indivisible. Each little story pieced together reveals the lie that capitalistic and colonial systems have deeply embedded in me. I believe there is still joy and hope to be found in the cracks and the folds.

The work that I have been drawn to is that which understands the sociality and performativity of our lived experiences — they seem to gently ask: how can this world be ever so different? more thoughtful? more engaged? more liveable? While my cynical response to ‘What do you do?’ is still ‘artist’, I do not believe art is the only place to find these answers. Said differently, I often find the most unannounced and invisible work to be the most radical. Amongst the messy overlaps, I cannot articulate a clear ‘position’ in my work and life, what is there is often an outcome of chance and exchange.