Unseen Flow is a new show by Chinese artist Carla Chan, in which she uses a variety of techniques to explore both terrestrial and otherworldly locations. Throughout, she blurs the lines between reality and illusion, figurative and abstract, as the gallery space is divided into three distinct phases in which the artist uses sound, light, gesture, texture, and data to take the visitor on an exploratory journey.
Chan’s arresting pieces combine physical and digital elements, with one series beginning with still pictures of enormous mountain ranges recorded in darkness. When the organic eyes fail to see, the digital camera captures the midnight landscape’s concealed framework. The artist then pours natural substances like iron or carbon onto the paintings in a balletic manner before dynamically shaking the residue away. The pieces that result convey both the energy of the creative process and the calm of the landscape: The hazy recollection of the vastness.
The exhibition includes a centrepiece installation in which viewers are immersed in a spatial drama unfolding over two huge video works: an evocative sensual unfolding of a more virtual setting. A collection of noise-generation algorithms creates the multi-layered immersive video art, replicating organic formations and patterns observed in nature. These biotic visual crystals give the digital picture and virtual world they produce a more natural feel.
The work is the result of a lengthy curiosity with natural transitions, especially formless shapes and their mobility. Natural substances such as water, rock, air, and clouds have the ability to shift into infinitely varied forms that appear both organised and random at the same time.