Ken Khun

 

10,000 hand-beaded crystals suspend from wire to create a veil, behind which is revealed a naturally dyed silk, from turmeric. Silk is activated as both curtain and support for found online imagery.

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With themes of desire concerned with glamour, the installation of crystal beads as curtains generate an intimate and tactile experience. The crystals obscure light but emphasise a glamorisation through sparkle, generated by reflective light and suggestive of diamonds and jewellery.

The materiality and functionality of the silk curtain as an object is explored within the space. Its implication as a shield to vulnerability and protector of privacy are played with through its semi see-through inadequacy and voyeuristic imagery. Ultimately, however, it functions as a transitory passage between public and private spaces.

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Through treatment with natural dyes, the fabric produces the colour of yellow and gold. Since the dyeing technique varies, the outcome of colours is often seen as bespoke evoking qualities of craftsmanship, diverging from mass production and focused on the appreciation of the hand. Placing value on labour, which is often forgotten when something desirable is created. Silk is the epitome for luxury, portraying opulence and status, in terms of fabric.

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The projection is integrated to create a non-fixed space of fantasy. It‘s an escape into glamour that combines physical and digital space. 

Démontage is a visual strategy employed once French writer Georges Bataille as an ‘undoing’ to the original and potential meaning of a group of images. The word itself translates as ‘dismantle’. Found imagery is selected concerning themes of glamour and eroticism and visually collaged or layered. Démontage can be seen to operate where subtle interruptions to groupings begin to emerge.

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‘Golden’ as a phrase works through the materials, digital collage and sexual connotations. Music by Madeintyo – Hunnid Dolla (Sinamax) is utilised for its sensual melodic-tone and rap chorus, “smelling like a hundred-dollar bill,” commenting on wealth.

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Read an interview with Ken on the Blog

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Photos by Pip Stevens

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