KYLE CHOY

WRITTEN BY RYAN J. MITCHELL

An internal reflexivity permeates the work of Kyle Choy. Each discrete element that composes a piece questions the nature of the work itself, asking viewers to investigate what it is they are actually seeing. A cast of a tree trunk, for example, appears true to its model until one notices a set of eyes etched into the bark. The folds of a bedsheet in disarray rendered in solid paint deceive the eye into believing they are fabric until one comes within inches of the sculpture. Choy situates his work between image and illusion, crafting scenes and objects that defy any singular defining narrative or material. His manipulations of wax, foam, and acrylic coalesce into phantasmagoric branches that ensnare a canvas, and seemingly mundane objects such as an unmade bed or a bedside table destabilize view ers when they realize that the soft fabric of a mattress has been replaced with hard foam or a reading lamp is an inoperable imitation of some other object. This unpredictable quality draws viewers closer to the work and invites them to investigate its construction, its varied textures, the pieces rooted in reality and those drawn from a world of illusions. Choy seems to understand viewers’ desire to look their way through the process of defining his pieces and comprehending how each element creates the whole. The artist defeats their attempts at comprehension by changing the placement of a work’s different parts or grafting a section of one work onto another, thus ensuring that each piece remains undefinable, an occupant of spaces in-between with the ambiguity to provoke fascination and confusion