Judy Kong

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Before Tranquilitas unfolds like a readymade poem, where found objects, materials, imagination, and perception converge into a contemplative, garden-like space. Kong collects and transforms discarded items from the homes of others, reimagining their forms through material processes. Their original functions dissolve, becoming carriers of sentiment and imagination. Tranquilitas, in classical philosophy, refers not simply to serenity but to an inner composure and resilience—a tranquility cultivated after hardship. Here, the garden becomes a spiritual and transitional space, and building it is both a gesture to plant hope on empty land, depicting the state in-between hardship and tranquility.
 

Kong explores a “poetics of material becoming”, allowing salt crystallisation, wax moulding, and other material processes to act as a dialogue of poetic creation. Each work is titled with a single poetic phrase:
 

“The sea, carrying the weight”,
“Stay still, holding the tears”,
“A wave comes close to cradle”,
“Being in flow, tranquility begins”.
 

These phrases function like spells travelling across past, present, and future. They carry mourning, vulnerability, and exhaustion, while also enacting a longing for the delicate possibility of tranquility.

 

This exhibition is curated by Bobbi Gan and Nicole Zhang.

Exhibited in the group exhibition "Unseen Gound" at ACAE Gallery (2025)