Mass: Obstructions

2020
Ink on canvas
10 x 8 in | 25.4 x 20.32 cm

Assembled from visitors’ responses to Chang’s installation work, 50 reflections form a communal portrait of inner obstructions in the early 21st century. Ranging from self-destructive habits to reckonings with change, each sentiment follows the next in a narrative mass of voices: I’m alone in my own head — My negative thought spirals — The overwhelming fear of settling — My inclination toward oblivion — Coming to terms with who I am and what is happening to me — I need to learn to reach outside myself — The courage to accept the unknown — Learning to trust my quiet voice.

Chang burnished the image, excavating sediments of paper until only black ink remained infused in the canvas. The result speaks to traditional Chinese reproductions of venerated texts using ink, from rubbings of philosophical inscriptions to calligraphic tracings of scholars’ poems. Here, ink is used to create a collective portrait of emotional barriers that consume our minds today.