A.I. is pleased to present three artists in its debut participation at ASIA NOW 2024 and in celebrating its 10th anniversary edition of the fair: WeiXin Quek CHONG (b. Singapore, living in Madrid), Yuki NAKAYAMA (b. Japan, living in New York) and Motohiro TAKEDA (Japan, living in New York). Together the works relate to the cycle of renewal, ritual and resilience.

WeiXin Quek CHONG’s images emerge from a ritual-like process of compressing and scanning orchids in vacuum bondage, transforming this tropical flower into abstract forms. This process not only evokes the personal and sensual feeling of bondage play, but also explores themes of cultural adaptation and resilience through the metamorphosis of the orchid.

Yuki NAKAYAMA’s paintings reimagine playgrounds as ceremonial spaces of play and recovery. Inspired by post-WWII architect Aldo van Eyke and his vision of playgrounds as a tool for coping with trauma, her abstract painting style speaks to the concept of play as a daily ritual and a form of unconscious healing.

Motohiro TAKEDA’s non-colour field photographs emphasise the transformation that occurs after destruction. Takeda often employs an ancient Japanese tradition of Shou Sugi Ban in his works both conceptually and metaphorically. In his works here, minimalist forms and slivers of pigment melt across the paper creating beauty and renewal from the ritual of destruction.