Cecile Chong

Handmade Paper

Created at the Dieu Donné 2023 Workspace Residency Program.

Cecile Chong explores material, identity, history, and language in her work. In her recent series made at Dieu Donné, Chong adapted her encaustic-layering practice to coat thick, embossed sheets of pigmented cotton paper with wax. Transforming the surface of the paper, Chong’s final forms are hard to immediately identify materially - they can appear as slabs of carved jade, stone, or soap. Chong created her embossed images through the careful layout of found objects the artist uncovered when cleaning out her family home in Quito, Ecuador, where her mother had lived for 42 years. The artist captured the intricate designs on these objects, which often included floral or nature-inspired motifs, into the encaustic-coated pulp like ghostly remnants, ultimately creating works that seem both contemporary and ancient, and that bridge the domestic space and natural landscape.
- Eliana Blechman