Reinventing Entanglement: Lulu Luyao Chang’s “Little Knots in My Hair”
The entrance of Lulu Luyao Chang’s solo exhibition, Little Knots in My Hair. The Red Star is Rising (2024) is on the right of exhibition wall text.
Entanglement is more than a situation, structure, or physicality; in Lulu Luyao Chang’s debut solo exhibition, Little Knots in My Hair, at Chinese American Arts Council (CAAC) | Gallery 456, this state of being intertwined unfolds as a metaphorical texture of existence—one that both acknowledges and dissolves the delicate dualities of life: fragility and flexibility, surrender and endurance, confinement and chaos.
A multidisciplinary artist based in Chicago and New York, Chang holds a BA in Art History from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and an MFA in Fine Arts from School of Visual Arts in New York. Little Knots in My Hair weaves together installations, ceramics, drawings, and sculptures, presenting a constellation of the artist’s contemplations on the “unseen turbulence” of life. Upon entering the gallery space filled with colorful gadgets hanging from the ceiling and glittering beads suspended in the air, one might be bedazzled and fascinated initially. However, once taken a few steps around, a discomfort begins to arise subtly: chopped hair scattered throughout, metal chains trapping one another, the camouflage of vibrancy wears down to reveal an undertone of unease.
Lulu Luyao Chang, On the WarmBed (2024), paper clay, watercolor, synthetic hair, mattress, steel, pigment mixed silicon, plastic, aluminum foil, foam and glue. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 456.
The exhibition’s centerpiece, On the WarmBed (2024)—the third edition of the artist’s ongoing project titled WarmBed—anchors the space. Strands of hair protrude from colorful clay sculptures in seemingly random formations, channeling a sense of defiance against the rigid geometry enforced by hanging chains. Such pervasive disruption, composed of trivial units of hair, conveys restlessness and inhibition—conditions the artist meditates upon with obsession and playfulness. Comprised of 18 handmade clay sculptures loosely connected by metallic strings, the installation rests atop a pool of black hair covering the floor, with some blurring and smudging against the rectangular outline of a bed frame, turning a familiar setting disconcerting.
A focus across Chang’s artistic practice is the attentive gaze toward the quiet oppressions of the mundane—those subtle, nearly invisible forces that constrain us within the violent societal, ideological, and systematic structures. In this dynamic piece of work, intentional gestures of “disturbance” occur frequently, whether through the haphazard placement of hair, the irregular cohesion of individual clay forms, or the intricate spatiality of metal chains. They viscerally speak to the obscure agitation we face, carry, and absorb both because of our environments and within ourselves.
Lulu Luyao Chang, detail of The Red Star is Rising (2024), glazed earthenware, synthetic hair, pigment mixed silicon, plastic, steel, glue. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 456.
This approach of using form to manifest ideas is also shown in another piece, The Red Star is Rising (2024), which hangs in a corner. The focal point of this piece is a silicone heart cast from a 3-D model, suspended above a plate of vibrant clay forms. In Mandarin, heart (xīn) and star (xīng) share similarities in how they are pronounced, while the iconography of the latter is laden with socio-political meanings. This linguistic interplay creates an intriguing engagement between the form of an anatomical heart and the underlying message inferring government, civilization, and political dilemmas. Another visual appeal of these sculptures is that their surfaces are all speckled with clusters of colored dots reminiscent of a pointillist style. Nonetheless, different from the approach of using patterned color to reach clarity in image, Chang’s intent is more rebellious and mischievous—to generate an atmosphere of disorientation stripped of articulated goals. While the works are wildly imaginative, with elements often appearing spontaneous, it is certain that the artist has exercised meticulous control in inserting locales of chaos in plentiful forms that bring us a well-mediated experience aligning with contemporary angst—a pervasive, quiet distress lurking beneath everyday life.
Lulu Luyao Chang, Polyatomic Ion (2023), glazed earthenware, aluminum wire, plastic beads, wool yarn. 32 x 93 x 5.5 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 456.
In the Polyatomic Ion series, Chang builds upon her past work on political critique and explores materiality as a methodology for processing thoughts and emotions. As Chang says: “ I was thinking about transformation, movement, and the in-between states.” The center wall installation, combined with glazed streamlike ceramic relief sculptures, features aluminum wires coated with colorful beads that connect limb-like components into a display of curves and lines. Unlike the raw, chaotic energy of hair and chains in her other works, these abstract shapes breathe out a sense of organic serenity, a force that feels less immediate yet more enduring. While political inquiry has always been the undercurrent in Chang’s artistic practice, she also aims to employ tactile pleasure and amusement. The thematic elasticity of these sculptures allow for liberating associations that take us beyond mere visual impressions to a terrain where figurations metaphorize relationships and dynamics—a dot for a sudden encounter, webs of hair for a condition of perpetual restraint, and squeezed ovals for the breathlessness of routines.
Snail Trail is on the left side of the wall. Lulu Luyao Chang, Snail Trail (2024), paper clay, synthetic hair, watercolor, acrylic, acrylic medium. 11 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 456.
Chang notes, “The chains become transformed to a freer shape. They become like a lasso, a net.” At Gallery 456, Chang unveils a body of work with complex and untrammeled pigments, angles, and textures, inviting us to reconsider the concrete through the abstract, as well as to reinterpret knots as emblems of unease, instability, and the imperceptible forces shaping our existences.
Little Knots in My Hair was on view at Gallery 456 from November 1st to November 15th, 2024.
