"In You, I See Something New (2025)"

The representational kelp forms are layered with abstracted shapes of ocean waves, light, and other aquatic plants, coalescing to suggest the silhouette of a human head. Inspired by the invisible roles taken on by kelp in the marine ecosystem, as sound absorbers and carbon sequesters, to name a few, I sought to mirror these multifarious roles with the microcosm of my mind and nervous system. The piece visualizes multispecies entanglement through the physical layering of paint and imagery.

SG Chen