The Illusor

Artist's note

CHEN Wenling draws motifs from his works from the long history and cultural traditions of China. The Illusor is a dramatic expression of a boy meditating using Mirror Stainless Steel material. Only the material has changed, but the innocent appearance of the naked boy that the artist has previously expressed comes from CHEN Wenling's childhood memories. The artist, who came from a fallen landlord class in a rural village, has fond memories of playing in nature as a child, catching fish in streams, looking for a new house, or having water fights with friends. However, the stuttering symptoms of his childhood became the taunts of his friends, and such contempt and teasing eventually fueled anger in his heart. The only way out of anger was to draw graffiti in the sand or make dolls out of clay. He did it with euphoria, and art gradually opened the door to a closed heart. Chen's art, the product of his efforts to break free from his anger and lowered self-esteem, gradually approached him. - Excerpt from ‘The Sociological Imagination of Laughter’ by Jinsup YOON, Art Critic

Introduction

A large artificial pond was created in front of the architectural cafe pavilion at the Wadong branch school playground. Inside the pond, the work of the artist, a meditating boy, is installed. This stainless steel product literally reflects what happens to the water surface as it is located on the rippling pond. As the image of the work is also reflected on the surface of the water, the work converses with its environment. The title Illusor means a mocker in Latin. This work captures the artist’s own childhood experience. He was mocked by his friends when he was little for his stuttering. Whenever that happened, he drew something or made something with clay as if he was meditating, and that is how he overcame the ridicule and mockery of his friends. So the meditating boy becomes the subject who confronts and communicates with his mocker in his own way, just like the work that talks with and reflects its environment.