Within, Below
An exhibition by Pearlyn Lii and Pedro Lavin presented at Chinatown Soup NYC and DISTANT.gallery, curated by Eileen Isagon Skyers.
Utilizing ancestral mythologies–Lavin with Pan-European faerie folklore, and Lii with Chinese hell cosmologies–as chthonic metaphors for their own interiority, the artists transmute crucial, personhood-defining experiences into lush, digital underworlds. Spiritual avatars, cyber-symbolic echoes of their creator’s core identities, traumas and dreams, inhabit these otherworldly planes.
Under the guise of expansive world-building unfolding across multiple mediums, Lii and Lavin bring forth their rich inner worlds as they revisit past pathos and grapple with themes of otherness: femininity, queerness, alienation and cultural identity. In their hands, self-created, infernal mythology becomes fertile ground for sensual, emotional exploration.
Within, Below follows an evolutionary trajectory of Lavin and Lii’s bodies of work from prequel to present, that both intersects and departs towards a multiplicity of possible futures within their respective underworlds. This explorative exhibition opens a realm where Lavin and Lii continue to develop experimental practices in art, film and performance; expanding their oeuvre into ever more detailed worlds and further evolving their unique perspectives.
Working with artists Pearlyn Lii and Pedro Lavin, we collaborated to envision and produce this hybrid exhibition of new media work across physical and virtual exhibition spaces. Working with the artists we delivered end-to-end creative production taking the exhibition from vision to design and build. We provided creative development, exhibition design, production, installation, editorial, marketing, promotion, and event production. We produced the opening event, and provided professional photo documentation of the exhibition from photographer Alan Tansey.
The physical exhibition took place in NYC in September of 2023 and the virtual exhibition remains up in perpetuity.