10 Questions with Thomas C. Chung

Thomas C. Chung is a Chinese-Australian contemporary artist based in Helsinki & Sydney. In 2004, Chung completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the College of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales. He is currently pursuing a future in psychotherapy for further artistic research.

In the last two decades, he has represented Australia at the 2nd Land Art Biennial in Mongolia, the 4th Ghetto Biennale in Haiti, the 9th Shiryaevo Biennale in Russia, the 1st Karachi Biennale in Pakistan, and The APS Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale in Malta. His recent exhibitions have included The 49th Rio Tinto Yarwun & QAL Martin Hanson Memorial Art Awards 2024, Gladstone Regional Art Gallery & Museum, Australia; Redland Art Awards 2024, Redland Art Gallery, Australia; supermART Kunstmesse Nürnberg, Germany; Drift Arts Festival, The Quarantine Station, Australia; Arte Laguna 2023, Arsenal Nord, Italy; STAGES: Life in Lockdown, Monash Gallery of Art, Australia; Lucca Art Fair, Real Collegio, Italy; Future Ready: Survival Now + Next, Anchorage Museum, Alaska.

Chung's past opportunities have seen him being awarded selected residencies in Gothenburg (Sweden), Drammen (Norway), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Shanghai (China), Zürich (Switzerland), Hohenstein (Germany), Sapporo (Japan), Xiamen (China) and Alajärvi (Finland). His work is included in public collections of Dexus (Melbourne, Australia); The Swatch Group (Biel, Switzerland); Swatch Art Peace Hotel (Shanghai, China), National Centre for Contemporary Arts (Moscow, Russia); Sofia Arsenal Museum for Contemporary Art (Sofia, Bulgaria); Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia); and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Seoul, South Korea), as well as various private collections in Australia and internationally.

www.thomas-c-chung.com | @thomas.c.chung

The Sea That Stands Before Me… - Exhibition view, Solo exhibition @ CEAC (Chinese European Art Center) - Xiamen (China) © Thomas C. Chung
Faced with hope or despair, humanity often navigates the unknown in life to find what it desires. In their quest for something more, they leave behind the comforts of what was once familiar. Nothing is assured when venturing into the open waters.
"The Sea That Stands Before Me…" is an exhibition contemplating the notion of one's devotion to living as a form of armament. Chung's conceptual practice continues its inquiries into psychology, folklore, mythology, and philosophy, binding them as a cohesive tale.
How do we find one's dreams if all seems lost? Can we rise from sorrow to feel worthy of embracing life again? These are the questions posed in the form of digital video landscapes, 3D-printed sculptures, and neon lights.

INTERVIEW

Welcome back to Al-Tiba9, Thomas. What have you been up to since our last interview in 2020?

Thank you so much. A lot has changed for me since 2020 - I'm not even sure where to begin. I had a couple of very special experiences in China last year, meeting many artists during an international artist-in-residency at Tao Hua Tan. Many of them have since become very close friends. It was one of those trips that changed my life. I ended the year with a solo exhibition at the Chinese European Art Center in Xiamen, presenting a body of work that you'll see here in this interview with Al-Tiba9.
I recently departed from Australia to chase my passions, which led me to Finland. I'm back for a second visit after receiving a grant from The Finnish Cultural Foundation. I genuinely perceive great potential for this to become my future home. The cities of Helsinki and Turku are stunning, charming, and steeped in history without being overly opulent.

The past four years have been eventful, and we witnessed many challenging events. Did these have an impact on your work? Or are you still following the same aspirations that informed your work in the past?

That's certainly the case. Honestly, it seems the world wasn't equipped for what unfolded. What I found intriguing was that, perhaps more so than in previous times (due to our access to technology and information), the emotional scars and traumas that emerged during this period were profound. Daily routines tend to keep hidden aspects of our lives safely tucked away. When those routines were disrupted, numerous mental health issues arose, affecting the public, as well as friends, family, and myself.
I've heavily researched the human psyche for inspiration in recent years, doing my best to reveal visually the things we often keep hidden as human beings. The words' emotional landscapes' describe succinctly what I was trying to reproduce as artworks. I downsized my way of creating and moved away from a physical studio practice. I spent a lot of my creativity on my laptop, utilizing animation, photography, soundscapes and reworked videos to produce my latest works.

What is one thing you learned from these experiences? And how did it help you further develop your art?

I realized that it's the small things that keep us grounded in life, and we often take them for granted. It isn't until we lose these elements that we truly feel their absence. Life isn't straightforward, and we frequently underestimate the significance of certain things to us as humans.
I've always viewed art as an incredible way to initiate conversations, often reflecting the artist's personality through their expressiveness. In many ways, artists serve as open books through their creative choices, embedded with codes and secrets — not because we intend to be cryptic, but as humans, we often lack the language or the means to articulate what it means to feel alive. Sometimes utilizing sound, color, shape, concept, or form grants us the freedom to step back and reflect on our existence in surprising ways. It's akin to communicating without words, allowing others to witness our experiences and insights.

Technically speaking, how has your art evolved over the past few years? In recent years, we saw the rise and fall of NFTs and the introduction of generative AI. Did you experiment with any of those? Or did you stay true to your original work?

In recent years, my artistic practice has become more compact, yet my conceptual ambitions have grown significantly - I primarily utilize my laptop as a tool for creativity and production. I've embraced the realms of video and digital art, but I haven't ventured deeply into NFTs or AI, which I find rather confusing. It hasn't been an area I've felt compelled to delve into. The foundational idea of viewing the world from a child's perspective remains important to my identity as an artist - this won't ever change. It's crucial enough that I'll continue to explore it in my future role as a psychotherapist.
Travel has played an enormous role in my career. I initially began my journey in one place, but over time, I found myself living in 15 countries without meaning to, moving from one location to another in order to sustain my creativity. That ability to cross borders was vital for my well-being and curiosity. Now that I'm allowed to travel again, I can feel myself learning once more.

Speaking of your work, can you tell us more about your project "The Sea That Stands Before Me…"? How did you prepare for this exhibition? And what themes did you want to tackle with the works on display?

This solo show was 5 years in the making. It was quite a process to go through. When the right exhibition opportunity presented itself, I was extremely happy it had found a home. This project addresses humanity's strength to endure hardships and discover resilience within.
When we gaze into an expansive landscape (or, in this case, the sea), it provides us the opportunity to reflect on our lives. Our recollections, thoughts, aspirations, and desires are all revealed as we observe the world around us. Our perspectives influence how we perceive this scene, varying based on our current stages in life. Interestingly, the same landscape can shift ever so slightly if we allow ourselves the time to revisit it. Quite often, the understanding or resolution we seek in things that once eluded us can be found in nature, granting us the space to contemplate ourselves on a different plane. These seascapes within this collection serve as a meditation on this idea, offering the audience a moment to reflect.

Your recent pieces seem to be highly influenced by human emotions and our general experience of today's world, where solitude, dreams, and wandering are a constant for many people. How much of your personal experience is reflected in these works? And where else did you get your inspiration from?

Being able to stay and work through any obstacle, to push on when life presents its toughest challenges, I drew a lot of my inspiration from my quest to find love. Sometimes, that takes the form of dreaming, of finding solitude in the quietest of moments. Sometimes, it means a lot of wandering as we move forward to meet others, travel, and let serendipity take its place. I've always dreamed of building a family of my own one day. I suppose I have a very nurturing nature. While it has taken me longer than I envisioned in this life, that's perfectly fine. It gave me the chance to gain deeper insights into humanity before meeting my wife and children. Everything else has felt like a 'side quest', though, as they say nowadays.

Throughout your career, you have worked, and still work, with different mediums, both 2D and 3D. How do you choose which medium better suits a specific concept? And how do you keep your production cohesive while working with different approaches?

That's an insightful question. I haven't been asked that before. I've always approached my artistic practice from a child's perspective, narrating it from an author's vision. I chose to become a conceptual artist because I wanted my life story to reflect the journey of this child. In my younger years, I wanted to become so many things...but ultimately, I chose not to limit myself, allowing art to find me instead. It inspired me to explore the world, fueling my childlike curiosity to see things from a playful yet meaningful perspective.
Each piece I create is rooted in the project's theme. Every project acts as a chapter in a broader narrative, conveying through abstract expressions that the world is far beyond our understanding. It's akin to how a child perceives or encounters something for the first time; a whole new world opens up before them. They're filled with wonder and begin to ask questions as they observe what it is that they can learn. This narrative continues until they can no longer be here. This is the cohesiveness I strive for whenever I organize a new exhibition.

Art_Magazine_Contemporary_Altiba9_Thomas C. Chung_Thomas C. Chung — © Thomas C. Chung

Let's now focus on the future. Is there anything else you would like to experiment with in your work, both in terms of mediums and techniques and theme-wise?

The next chapter promises to be one of my favorites. It'll showcase the child's realization that the world is capable of breaking and that fractures are a part of everyday life. Our world is far from perfect. We all must deal with that and make the most of the limited time we have. But in all of this, we also learn how to love. I feel that this is the greatest aspiration any human can hope for.
The mediums and techniques I'll use will gradually become less photographic, less recognizable, and more abstract, incorporating a performative aspect. One segment will feature an unexpected twist that will need to be seen and interpreted to be fully understood. It'll ultimately be for children. I'll keep that as a surprise for now.

What are your plans for this year? Do you have any new projects or exhibitions you are working on?

This year, I've just wrapped up my 20th international artist-in-residency experience. This was not something I had planned when I was a student making art. Back then, I couldn't even imagine having such ambitions, so reaching this milestone feels incredibly proud for me as a creative individual. Once I conclude my time here in Finland, I'll head back to Australia to follow my interest in psychotherapy, which will commence next year. I have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow regarding a collaboration, so I'll have to see how that unfolds. Any upcoming projects and exhibitions will depend on how those develop. That’s always an exciting moment.

And lastly, what is one piece of advice you would give to a young artist who is approaching the art world today?

Be ready for an unpredictable journey. If stability, security, and comfort are your goals, the art world may introduce challenges that can be overwhelming. Nevertheless, if you're open to discovery, eager and constantly curious, and you recognize that art is more about a way of being than merely a profession, then you've chosen the right path to pursue. Resilience is crucial for any creative spirit. Allowing others to deter us can hinder many from progressing. While it's true that there is more support for artists than ever before, consistency is often lacking, which is central to being an artist: the ability to navigate life's ups and downs and view those moments as invaluable learning experiences.
Art is a remarkable lens through which to view the world, but is it the most important thing?
I believe that whatever ignites your passion, makes you feel alive, brings joy to your psyche, and makes your inner child smile, then you are on the right path. This is what has guided me here, and I intend to keep going. Embrace it. Immerse yourself in it. Cherish it. Stand up for it. What we genuinely care about should never come effortlessly. It is often the most challenging times that reveal our true selves.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.

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