Lê Nguyên Phương, Adrian J. Song and Laura Chen
Family Album: A Re-imagining Memory
08.11.2024 - 01.12.2024
Opening reception: Friday 8th November, 2024
Curated by Yuzhen Cheng
What is family? In what ways can we remember and understand it? What of family is preserved over time amidst the blurred apparitions of our memories? How do family images shape both personal and collective memory, and how do they construct a sense of identity?
Drawing on senses of authenticity, on everyday life, and our relationship with the past, the "family album" provides a sense of personal identity and a connection to one's own history. This exhibition combines unique works by three contemporary artists of Southeast and East Asian backgrounds and invites reflection on the family album as a repository of memories that allow individuals to construct narratives about their past, familial relationships and their position within a broader historical and cultural context. Through artistic techniques such as cutting, folding, collage, and juxtaposition, and through the media of photos, video, and installation, family albums are represented as "Les Lieux de Mémoire" (sites of memory) — spaces where narratives and memories are constructed and reconstructed. At the same time, these albums become a field where past stories are re-imagined.
Technically, this exhibition aims to transcend the boundaries of pure image interpretation within the realm of contemporary artistic photography. Methodologically, it explores the powerful role and impact of photography within historical and anthropological narratives.
Adrian J. Song (MYS) @adrianjsong
Adrian Jing Song, born in Shah Alam, Malaysia and currently based in Naarm (Melbourne), is a PhD candidate at RMIT University's School of Art (2024). In his practice, Adrian uses multimedia such as drawing, AI, and sculpture, challenging the traditional representation of archives and documentation in ethnography. By engaging with strategies of fabulation and myth-making he resists the colonizing gaze and decontructs the meaning of the archived history. Adrian is also the editor of Transference Magazine, an online publication he founded in 2021. He has received awards including the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence (2023) and the Perimeter Books Award (2022).
Lê Nguyên Phương (VN) @phuong.io
Lê Nguyên Phương is a Vietnamese emerging artist studying in Naarm (Melbourne). Through his photographic practice, he focuses on themes of collective identity, family, sexuality, and decolonisation. Phuong unpacks his positionality in an ongoing colonial structure, one that persists across the Asia-Pacific region through forms of discriminatory violence, censorship, and cultural-political division. Phuong is currently interested in exploring the occupying space between documentary and art photography with projects that concern his surrounding communities. He hopes to further expand his research and practice in collaboration with emerging Vietnamese and South East Asian art and photography voices.
Laura Chen (NL) @lauramchen
Laura Chen is a Dutch photographer, collage artist, and writer known for her intuitive, experimental mixed-media approach, blending images with text and photomontage. Her work explores the overlooked aspects of daily life, memory, and subconscious connections. Chen has exhibited internationally at Foam Amsterdam, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, and Photo London, among others. She has received numerous awards, including Foam Talent and the LensCulture Summer Open Award, with her work featured in major publications like the British Journal of Photography.
