Elizabeth Chang

Lives and works in Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico

Artist statement

In my practice, I deliberately highlight the space between the visible and invisible, political and poetic, and language and meaning. This intentional ambiguity provides room for multiple interpretations and active participation in meaning-making. Fragments suggest larger systems, transparent materials communicate the ephemeral, and text and archival documents question the delineation between objective facts and subjective truths. I create a space where viewers can engage in a nuanced exploration of complex narratives, weaving together the threads that connect individuals to their histories and communities. The transparent quality of etched immigration cards on acrylic becomes a metaphor in my exploration, allowing glimpses of legible text to accentuate the dual nature of visibility and invisibility of a community and its history. These immigration cards, issued to foreigners in 1930s Mexico, include Korean immigrants who arrived in 1905 to work on the henequen plantations on the Yucatán. This process sheds light on archives as both legitimizing documents and wielders of knowledge and power, simultaneously obscuring and revealing the narratives they contain. In the recreation of marketplaces in Mexico City, I employ found objects like scales, suspended in midair, to evoke the sensory experiences of this ancient and modern metropolis. Through this immersive approach, I invite viewers into the spaces pivotal in shaping the identities of Korean immigrants arriving in Mexico...

Artwork