Chella Man Instagram – ǝsuǝS ǝʞɐW o⊥ ǝʌɐH ʇ’usǝoᗡ ʇI
Opening February 8th at @hannahtraoregallery!
Hug you there ❤️🩹
“As a Deaf individual, my daily drawing practice taught me that the fluidity of lines can free me from the constraints of language. Within this space of safety and freedom, there was no deprivation, creating control over canvas taught me what abundance could feel like. Continuously curious, my practice has since expanded to include performance, sculpture, film, writing, and installation that address my experiences as a trans, disabled, biracial person. With each artistic output, I grieve and rejoice what a mind and body can and cannot hold.”
@hannahtraoregallery:
“Growing up in a conservative town in central Pennsylvania–attending schools where creative expression was not prioritized–Man’s first encounter with artmaking was through the pen and paper on his desk. Before Man had the language to articulate his experience of living as a disabled, queer, person of color, drawing became a fluid vocabulary that gave voice to the confusion, abstraction, intuition, identity, and self-love he was, and continues to be, in pursuit of.
From a young age, Man’s drawings have always been composed in black ink—bold, breathing lines that conjure connections to the Chinese calligraphy his grandfather created throughout his life. Never making a plan before embarking on a blank page, he celebrates the intimacy small-scale sketchbooks offer, encouraging his line to wander and intersect freely as he connects thoughts, figures, and shadows. That he discovers infinite possibilities for expression in the simplicity of black and white composition speaks to his ability to recognize multitudes in binary systems. For Man, the dynamic and amorphous space beyond binaries is a continuum. His line does not measure or mimic, but manifests its own course, snaking about the page with an independence that makes it impossible to comprehend where his drawing begins and ends. “ | Posted on 26/Jan/2024 09:07:53
