Flesh of Vessel

198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, in collaboration with the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland, is proud to present Flesh of Vessel, an exhibition by Soko Hwang exploring the domination of bodies, the boundaries of possession, and the struggle between control and transformation. About Flesh of Vessel explores the desire to perpetuate order through the domination of bodies and the struggle of flesh that refuses subjugation. Ships, gardens, collections and zoos emerge as vessels that transport, classify and regulate bodies. These vessels construct a utopian garden, an image of paradise where time is taxidermied even as finite bodies are continuously transformed. Across sculpture, moving image and installation, the exhibition juxtaposes maritime hulls, architectural elements of Victorian glasshouses, garden design diagrams, Wardian cases, cabinets of curiosities, plant growth processes, myths of Daphne and werewolves, and cultural iconography. Through the montage of fragmented images and myths, different temporalities conflict, provoking metamorphosis that exposes tensions between constraint and movement. Within these forms, the boundaries between flesh and vessel become ambiguous, while relations of domination and resistance are unsettled. Chaos emerges as bodily transformation alters structures of possession. Can bodies transcend the boundaries that constitute them? Read more Toggle Installation Film / Video Mixed media Multi-disciplinary Photography Sculpture