CECILE CHONG

CECILE CHONG: _other Nature – Cicadian Rhythm

_other Nature – Cicadian Rhythm is an art installation that metaphorically and literally illuminates perspective, supports contemplation, and challenges action to heal the damage done by the commerce-driven imposition of social, political, and physical barriers within our world. The title references how every seventeen years the cicadas speak to us, reminding us that there are cycles, rhythm, and balance in nature that we must respect. On one side of the fence, one encounters a lush, colorful vertical landscape referencing a healthy, robust, natural environment while the other side suggests a stunted world driven by commercial interests and ravaged by human intervention. The “Guagua” (Quechua for baby) sculptures, symbolizing humanity reoccur throughout Chong’s work, live as inhabitants of this environment.

About the Artist

Cecile was born in Ecuador to Chinese parents and grew up in Quito and Macau. She lives and works in New York City. She is a multimedia artist working in painting, sculpture, and installation layering materials, identities, histories, and languages. Her work addresses ideas of culture interaction and interpretation, as well as the commonalities humans share in our relationship to nature and to each other. She was awarded fellowships and residencies including the Hispanic Society Artist Research Fellowship, LMCC Creative Engagement, Urban Field Station, Block Gallery/AIM Artist Hub, BRIC Media Arts, the Joan Mitchell Center, Wave Hill Winter Workspace, the Lower East Side Printshop, Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant, The Center for Book Arts, Socrates Sculpture Park, AIM - Bronx Museum, Urban Artist Initiative NYC and the Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant. Her public art installation EL DORADO - The New Forty Niners has been installed on Staten Island, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. Solo exhibitions include Selenas Mountain, ICFAC at Pinta Miami, Smack Mellon, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Five Myles Plus Space, BRIC House, Emerson Gallery Berlin Germany, Honey Ramka Project Space, Figureworks, Praxis, Corridor Gallery and ArtSPACE. She received. an MFA from Parsons the New School for Design, an MA in education from Hunter College, and a BA in Studio Art from Queens College.