RETELLINGS (REVISIONS): SIN WAI KIN x RAINBOW CHAN
In 2024, Cement Fondu presented its sixth annual pairing of an esteemed international artist with a local rising star. Turner Prize-nominated Sin Wai Kin was paired with multidisciplinary artist Rainbow Chan for Retellings (Revisions), a gallery exhibition bringing their respective practices into dialogue, alongside a collaborative live performance co-presented with Phoenix Central Park.
In Retellings (Revisions), Chan presented a new body of work that comprised silk paintings, sculptural work and a three-channel short film. These works were underpinned by a single 圍頭 (Waitau/Weitou) lament which is titled 三朝回門, translated into English as ‘To return 3 days after the wedding’. This lament was sung by newly wed brides at a ritual supper representing the final farewell to her family of origin and joining with the family of her husband. While shaped by despair, Chan reinvests these laments with hope—framing them as fierce acts of public protest and as affecting, metaphorical meditations on the diasporic experience of moving between homes.
Retellings (Revisions): Sin Wai Kin x Rainbow Chan
Cement Fondu, Paddington
10 August — 29 September 2024
Retellings
Phoenix Central Park, Chippendale
14 & 15 August 2024
This project was assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
Girl in the Gloaming
墓夕
Girl in the Gloaming 墓夕, 2024. Silk dye on habotai silk, wax resist, decolourant, 14 carat gold thread, linocut print, cotton. Series of 5: each 305cm x 140cm.
Special Commendation Award recipient, The Churchie Emerging Art Prize (2024).
Girl in the Gloaming 墓夕, 2024. Silk dye on habotai silk, wax resist, decolourant, 14 carat gold thread, linocut print, cotton. Series of 5: each 305cm x 140cm, Cement Fondu, Sydney. Photo by Jessica Maurer.
Girl in the Gloaming 墓夕, 2024 (detail). Photo by Maria Boyad.
Girl in the Gloaming 墓夕, 2024. Silk dye on habotai silk, wax resist, decolourant, 14 carat gold thread, linocut print, cotton. Series of 5: each 305cm x 140cm. Photo by Jessica Maurer.
Girl in the Gloaming 墓夕, 2024 (detail). Photo by Maria Boyad.
Rainbow Chan receiving the Special Commendation Award in The Churchie Emerging Art Prize (2024), Metro Arts, Brisbane.
Three Days After
三朝回門
Three Days After 三朝回門, 2024. Three-channel HD video with sound, 6:20 minutes.
Based on the eponymous bridal lament, this work reinterprets the story of a bride who flees an arranged marriage and chooses death in the canola fields of her childhood rather than returning to the groom.
Featuring
Rainbow Chan
Directors
Rainbow Chan
Rae Choi
Producer
William Duan
Director of Photography
Bonita Carzino
Composer
Rainbow Chan
Editor
Joshua Tate
"Three Days After 三朝回門", 2024 (video still).
"Three Days After 三朝回門", 2024 (video still).
"Three Days After 三朝回門", 2024 (video still).
"Three Days After 三朝回門", 2024 (video still).
"Three Days After 三朝回門", 2024 (video still).
"Three Days After 三朝回門", 2024 (video still).
"Three Days After 三朝回門", 2024 (installation view). Photo by Jessica Maurer.
"Three Days After 三朝回門", 2024 (installation view). Photo by Jessica Maurer.
Chastity Pig
宮紗珠
Chastity Pig 宮紗珠, 2024. Foam, latex, shellac, LED bulbs, MDF board, satin, scissors, wet market red lamps. Pig and Satin Plinth designed by Al Joel. Upholstery by Lisandro Sanchez.
This resin sculptureat once playful and grotesque, draws on the roast pig centrepiece of the post-wedding banquet: a symbol that could function as celebratory offering or public shaming. In some village traditions, if a bride was found not to have been a virgin on her wedding night, the pig was paraded through the streets with its ears and tail removed, turning the feast into an instrument of social judgement.
"Chastity Pig 宮紗珠", 2024. Foam, latex, shellac, LED bulbs, MDF board, satin, scissors, wet market red lamps. Photo: Jessica Maurer.
"Chastity Pig 宮紗珠", 2024 (installation view). Photo: Jessica Maurer.
"Chastity Pig 宮紗珠", 2024 (installation view). Photo: Jessica Maurer.
"Chastity Pig 宮紗珠", 2024 (installation view). Photo: Jessica Maurer.
"Chastity Pig 宮紗珠", 2024 (detail). Photo: Maria Boyad.
"Chastity Pig 宮紗珠", 2024 (installation view). Photo: Jessica Maurer.