Astral Chrysanthemum

Luise Fong

1994

Mixed media on two boards

Fong’s Astral Chrysanthemum presents two canvases that evoke a rich range of associations. The painting summons images of cosmological galaxies, and suggests connections between cosmology, pathology and the interior spaces of the human body. By marking or ‘wounding’ the canvas and by using a restricted palette, Fong alludes to the body’s forms, surfaces and tensions. She intervenes with the surface in a variety of ways by scratching and splashing the work to make reference to the human body.  The dual canvases reveal a desire to explore the binary oppositions of light/dark, night/day, intuition/intellect, interior/exterior, microcosm/macrocosm, and translucence/solidarity.

The University of Auckland Art Collection