ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: CECILE CHONG

Caddisfly Project conducted a micro-interview with Cecile Chong, whose work is featured in Vol 02: Pressure. Cecile is a multimedia artist based in New York, NY.

We love her work for its implicit metaphors. Artifacts and their cultural inferences are folded in on themselves subverting our expectations. 

Combinations of anachronistic cues shift these relics outside of linear time. The objects seem to embody a chain of signification that is trying to escape the baggage of any particular cultural lens and point only to modes of being human—how we live, what we produce, and the common things intrinsic to human experience.

CP: What is your daily routine like?

CC: I’m usually up early and go straight to my cat, coffee, and yoga mat (in that order). I’m glad to have started doing yoga again this year. I then answer emails before going to the studio. I’ve been avoiding rush hour, so I leave the house after 9:30 am. I usually spend eight to nine hours at my studio. Some days, I stay home for Zoom meetings. At night, I’m home for dinner with my husband and I enjoy chatting with family and friends late at night.

CP: How would you title your retrospective?

CC: It Occurred to Me

CP: Tell us about a text, film, artwork or piece of music that has been resonating with you lately.

CC: We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation, by Jeff Chang. Chang talks about “The In-Betweens: On Asian Americanness.” So relatable and insightful!

Primp, a video by Felicita Felli Maynard at Pen and Brush. So beautiful and moving!

CP: Do you have a favorite tool?

CC: Depending on what I’m focusing on in my studio. This week I’m sorting images and I’m using these tiny scissors shaped like a stork to cut paper. They’re sharp and fun to hold.

CP: Can you describe a bright spot during this time?

CC: Seeing that certain societal structures and our treatment of the environment and native cultures are being questioned, examined, and hopefully reset.

Photos by Olivia Swider