Kyle Choy
IN/SIDE/OUT
April 3rd 7:00-10:00 PM
With DJ Ol’ Moanin’
Artist Statement:
My work has always involved portraiture despite my general unease towards it. Faces on flat, rectangular surfaces have always given me the impression of looking through a window at someone either oblivious or confrontational to my gaze. It feels as ifI’ve walked in on a stranger unannounced and unsure if I was even invited or noticed at all. I want the viewer to have that same feeling, to wonder if they are more than just a passive observer and question their own gaze.
I use openings in leaves and windows to create a world beyond the boundaries of the wall and space the work inhabits. By peering in, the viewer inadvertently becomes part of this story; though whether as a member of the group or an outsider is dictated by their positioning in relation to the figures and their body language. Painted objects act as remnants left behind by these characters and stand in for them in the narrative. These articles appear superimposed, lit simultaneously by the space they’re in and a light that does not exist and cast shadows from both that further blur the line between their world and our own.