• There was time and space to fill, and a nap was needed.
    by Qian Cheng





  • Posted by @hauntprojects on 3/8/2024

    “nap” was a spare room in my basement suite that was converted into a temporary gallery space. Organized with Afternoon Projects, “nap” occurred between November 2022 and September 2023, providing a chance to collaborate, share, and recharge. It is worth noting that this block of time was created through two factors: the remaining lifespan of my hamster (Taro), and the plan for me to move across the country upon his passing, marking the end of the gallery.

    It was a guessing game as to how long the project would last. I suppose it’s quite similar to napping and trusting the body to know when to wake up without an alarm. The unknowns made it necessary to keep things light and spontaneous, which worked well for me because I struggle with a lot of indecisiveness! “nap” became a meditation on trust, letting go and simply allowing things to fall into place.

    During this nap, we put on 3 solo exhibitions, 1 group exhibition, and 1 screening:

    “Meets Moss,” by Colette Stubbings; “made for, by, and in my garden :,),” by Mikaela Kautzky; and
    “Morning Sun Garden,” by Aracha Cholitgul.

    “Inside voice(s), please,” featuring Cookie Brunel, Jeffrey Chong, Julia DaHee Hong, and Gonzalo Reyes Rodriquez, curated by Lauren Lavery and Sungpil Yoon.

    “Teasers,” a screening of fragments to a forthcoming longer film, titled “The Simple Life: City Comes to the Country/Country Comes To The City” by Tiziana La Melia.

    There is a life cycle to each exhibition, the transition of ideas into work… a show… a celebration… and lastly, resetting the space into a blank slate ready for the next thing… similar to the steady movements of a chest being animated through endless snoring that can’t be stopped, continuous movements of coming and going.

    It’s rather difficult to reflect on this time period. Maybe because I was lonely, maybe because I was dealing with the guilt of essentially waiting for the death of my pet. Or maybe because I was experiencing anxiety from a large, impending transition—
    dealing with the knowledge of having to be far from my family as well as from what I had become comfortable with. I kept myself busy to make time pass faster, filling it with friends, music, openings, outside shoes walking indoors, sunbathing, snacks, incense, cheap beer, boxed wine, grapes, mosaics, emails, letters, flowers, chips, photos, paintings, cats, litter, toilet paper, rakes…and many restful naps.

    -Qian Cheng

    [Image description 1: “Armour 1” (2022), a photograph by Collette Stubbings, is framed in dark wood and hangs on a white wall. The image shows a glove form, created from roses, rose petals, flowering kale and kale leaves. The plant elements are tied in place with white thread, trailing from the gloved hand in clusters. A blue thread is draped across the framed photograph, entering from the right of the image and continuing beyond the bottom edge.]

    [Image description 2: An installation view of Jeffery Chong’s “Medicine Cabinet” (2023). The framed photograph hangs on the interior, beige wall of an illuminated closet in a white room. In the photograph, an assortment of toiletry items are arranged on the three glass shelves of an open medicine cabinet. The items appear dated, with labels firmly and lightly retro, and show obvious signs of use and wear.]

    [Image description 3: An image from Tiziana La Melia’s “Teasers” screening. A group of seated viewers face a white wall where a film is being projected. In the film, a person in a black cap bends at the waist to pick from a leafy, green field. A white bucket sits at their feet. Their arms and legs are bare to the sun. To their right, in the field, farther away from the camera, is a second picker with another white bucket.]

    Images courtesy of the artists and gallery:
    pg. 3 | Colette Stubbings, “Armour 1,” 2022, rose petals, miniature rose and flowering kale, digital print, 21.59 cm x 27.94 cm (framed)

    pg. 6 | Jeffery Chong, “Medicine Cabinet,” 2023, inkjet print photograph on cotton fibre paper 22 x 28 in (framed)

    pg. 9 | “Teasers” screening, Tiziana La Melia

    https://www.afternoonprojects.org/nap-gallery

    This post was made possible through a donation of $250 from Project Society. The author was paid $250 for their work. To support haunt texts with a donation, please DM us.