Essay by Eleanor Lim-Midyett, 2023
As a transnational creative, Kathy Liao, who was born in Taiwan and spent much of her childhood shuttling back and forth between Taiwan and the United States is well versed in the rituals performed by migrants to maintain connection to those far away and to keep memories alive despite physical distance: “phone calls at the same time every day, packing and unpacking luggage, eagerly waiting at Arrival and saying good-byes at Departure, getting into another long winding customs and border security line.” This distance has made Liao mindful of the gaps that permeate our existence and separate us from others. In her exhibition, Mind the Gap, which includes large scale wall installations and multimedia, three-dimensional sculpture, Liao is cognizant of the potential hazards of these gaps - separation, loss, marginalization; yet, she “leans into “ these potentially generative, creative spaces as inspiration for her studio practice.
Liao’s works are populated by people en route, often migrants physically inhabiting transitional spaces such as airports, bus depots and train stations. The act of being in these “borderland” places produces a liminal state of mind often born of “the bureaucratic and emotional tripwires that immigrants must navigate.” Liao explains, “Liminal spaces can be physical; an airport is a liminal space. But in your head, being in between two cultures, code switching, that headspace is a liminal space. It’s not static; it feels like it's constantly moving, shifting.” Through her thick and vibrant collage layers, fast brush strokes and abstract gestures, her paintings make tangible the complex physical, emotional and psychological terrain upon which the experiences of her travelers unfold. Liao’s works convey a dynamic fluidity in which absence informs presence and memories are entangled with the here and now.
The works in Mind the Gap take on an added significance in the wake of the global pandemic - a separate, hyphenated period of history during which social distancing was required, and dislocation and emotional isolation was often the result. The elderly female figure central to many of her pieces, modeled after her maternal grandmother diagnosed with dementia, on a personal level references the cognitive lapses due to memory loss and on a broader social scale brings to mind the fear and isolation felt by many Asian Americans, particularly the elderly, in the context of increased anti-Asian hate spurred by the pandemic.
Despite the technology at our disposal to remain connected - cell phones, FaceTime, and the internet, Liao observes that “the wall of the digital screen blinds us to those close by and makes us lose touch with reality even as we rely more on virtual means to stay in touch with distant loved ones.” The prodigious works in Mind the Gap encourage us to be mindful of these gaps as potential spaces to consider what separates us and what ultimately brings us together as human beings.
Articles:
Kathy Liao: Mind the Gap at Studios INC, KC Studios, by Emily Spradling