New Sculptural Work in Ink : In my art I have a language that represents me. My sculptural ink is ink reconstituted from my childhood. The traditional ink stick is utilized in Chinese calligraphy and painting, traditionally dried then ground into liquid using water on a stone, and dates back to 12 century BC. The ink is made with animal by-product; it is mortal, and transforms over time. The material I make in the studio applies these ancient ink making methods for my sculptural works. Working with a material with historical and personal resonance reflects on fluidity, reconciliation and self-discovery. I am motivated by the liberation of form, language and place from the boundaries of conventionality. My aim is to consider the profound meaning of identity in our time and using ink to tell my story in history.

In 2014, I visited Guilin China and encountered a 'water prison' in a preserved limestone river cave dwelling - a trench as deep as 8ft eroded over time by the river tides that had held prisoners left to die by drowning - and reinterpreted it as my body as a water prison in a site specific performance in an underground bunker in Shanghai China. Revisiting the Chinese ink stick by using it to mark the walls recalled memories from childhood. The lines not only renegotiate with body, form and place, mortality and transcendence, it also draws a line from which I began to reclaim the ancient ink as my own.  

FOR MORE NEW SCULPTURAL WORK IN INK   >  Studio visit 

Video with audio please

FLUNG INK - customized air pressure ink cannons, performace, my parts as targets

Process - Injecting, shooting, becoming ink 

Etiquetta - She's A Bitch 2016 Upstate NY

Etiquetta - She's A Bitch 2016

Upstate NY

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Target practice, Upstate NY

Target practice, Upstate NY

Etiquetta - She's A Bitch 2016 Upstate NY

Etiquetta - She's A Bitch 2016

Upstate NY

Target 1

Target 1

Target 2 

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Target 3

Target 3

Target practice, Upstate NY

Target practice, Upstate NY

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    Etiquetta - She's A Bitch 2016

    Upstate NY

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    Target practice, Upstate NY

Ellen Jong © 2020