VINCENT CY CHEN: XENOGENSIS

Steve Turner is pleased to present Xenogenesis, the debut solo exhibition for New York-based Vincent Cy Chen, which features otherworldly luminescent wall sculptures that imagine the intersection of the primordial world with a speculative future world. The exhibition title alludes to the concept of offspring being of a different species from their parents and suggests notions of metamorphosis, transformation, and hybridity. The sculptures are made from various materials and processes, including fiberglass and resin casting, metalsmithing, woodworking, resin-clay sculpting, and foam carving. Each work is self-illuminated with neon lighting and is meticulously airbrushed and ornamented with steel piercings and bird feathers. They resemble elements from exotic plants, deep sea creatures, reproductive organs, and electrical nodes. According to Chen, they are also inspired by the Buddhist temples and iconography he encountered during his youth in Taiwan. He envisions the exhibition space as a nexus between ancient and contemporary, familiar and unknown.