Pleased to share Lai Chih-Sheng’s solo exhibition “Nodding” with Project Fulfill Art Space. “Nodding” is often signifying approval, agreement, or greeting, but sometimes it can simply be a moment of zoning out…

In daily life, concentrating and distracted coexist. Just as there is always omission in meticulousness, an excessive pursuit of perfection often causes a defect. When the artist exerts all their effort to think more thoroughly, there are always small gaps that remain. In these moments of oversight, the artist captures the occasional gaps that emerge, from which allow a sudden flash of inspiration to appear.

The title “Nod” also carries this meaning. We nod to show approval or greet someone, but sometimes, we are just daydreaming or even dozing off. Art also situates in a similar position—most of the time, we are constantly “nodding”, agreeing to contexts, ideas, or norms. However, the moment of breaking free from routine and surpassing existing frameworks might come from that moment of sauntering—a brief escape from reality, unwittingly entering another state, perhaps even dazing. Consciousness drifts to another space or time, and the inspiration for creation often flashes in these drifting gaps.

Lai Chih-Sheng hopes his works resonate with this kind of state. The site-specific works in this exhibition originate from a random experience: Lai recently moved to countryside and noticed that when the internet signal was weak, thumbnail images in albums would display sharp, contrasting, and layered jagged color blocks, representing an unfinished visual state. He transformed this visual state into an element of his creation, reflecting on the lighting typically installed in contemporary exhibitions. The artist uses three different shades of gray paint on the empty wall to simulate the light and shadow. These lighting usually existed to enhance the artworks but have now become the main subject, like the imprint left on a screen after prolonged use, retaining a sense of an ongoing situation.

Moreover, the artist will present two other series of his paintings work. The first series originated during the pandemic. At that time, due to moving or quarantine, unfinished paintings were stored in semi-transparent zip-lock bags for protection. When viewed through the bag, the colors appeared thin, and the shapes and textures being enveloped, draw in people’s attention to observe, making the part of “unfinished” become a different viewing experience. The other series involves Lai repeatedly painting on the canvas, preserving the texture of the paint, and deliberately leaving an unpainted area at the brink and the middle of the canvas as the final finishing touch. This creates a sense of eternal, responding to the continuity between creation and viewing.

— Courtesy of Project Fulfill Art Space.