Jennifer Steinkamp

Hong Kong

Today, Lehmann Maupin Hong Kong opens Diaspore – an exhibition of new works by Jennifer Steinkamp. The Los Angeles-based artist has been working in digital media for over twenty years and is a pioneer in the field of 3-D animation. Steinkamp’s digitally rendered animations of natural phenomenon and movements are projected within architectural surroundings, resulting in immersive environments that blend awareness of the physical and ethereal and challenge the viewer’s preconceived ideas of form and space. The artist’s first exhibition in Hong Kong, with two new works, furthers her exploration of space, perspective, and digital simulation of the natural world.

Diaspore, one of the two projections on display, depicts a collection of virtual tumbleweeds, self-propelled through a flat, white landscape. The renderings of the amalgamated shrubs, composed of sticks and leaves, are mesmerizing, mimicking the movements one would experience in nature in ways that are instinctually familiar. In this work, Steinkamp references both the anatomy of the plant that disperses the seeds and spores, as well as the social phenomenon of diaspora. Drawing a connection between the dissemination of people and culture across the world and the plant’s ability to spread its seeds, Steinkamp uses technology to link the natural and human worlds.

In addition, Steinkamp will present Bouquet, portraying not a bouquet of flowers, but of fully-grown trees, gathered in an intricate arrangement. This large-scale projection upends the traditional notion of a delicate, floral bouquet, reimagining it as a dynamic, looming forest. Although the work is visually alluring, Bouquet continues Steinkamp’s approach to creating projections that are slightly disconcerting, forcing the viewer to reconsider their ideas about nature and their relationship to their immediate environment. Bouquet is also currently on view at the American Consulate in Guangzhou, China as part of the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies program.

Jennifer Steinkamp

Lehmann Maupin

February 13 – March 22, 2014
12 Pedder Street
Central, Hong Kong

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