About the edition
A glimpse of an alternate dimension, shaped according to the ancestral logics and imagined futures of Song’s family. Artworks are covered in symbolic details, patterns, coded pictorial language and untranslatable knowledge that hint at the multiplicitous stories which collectively form this surreal space. There are worlds within worlds here, bodies within bodies, faces within faces. Excerpt from exhibition introduction by Eoin Dara, Head of Exhibitions
Rae-Yen Song created three print editions in tandem with the development of the exhibition ▷▥◉▻ at DCA. A fluid, creative dialogue throughout the production of this body of work enabled sculptural elements for the exhibition to become integrated into experimental processes in DCA Print Studio and, inversely, layers from the print development such as deep-etched copper plates, or intricately cut inky woodblocks, to ultimately merge into the gallery environment. The resulting three editions are closely interconnected but diverse.
▥vessel▥ carries the inky imprints of ambiguous creatures that recur in different forms and compositions throughout the artist’s installation. Arranged on a soft-white surface reminiscent of an ancient scroll, the embossed shapes unfurl vertically, intentionally recalling pictographic characters upon the semi-translucent and fibrous Japanese paper; untranslated, so with their meaning open-ended, they evoke what Song calls ...an imagined dialogue with a long-departed grandfather. He was a being from another time and place, and my conversation with him addresses crossing, migration, loss, survival and labour.
| Year | 2022 |
| Edition of | 20 |
| Media | Four plate copper etching on Atsu-Shi 76gsm paper |
| Dimensions | 66 x 25cm |
| Signature | Signed with artist’s signature chop mark on lower recto, numbered and dated on lower verso |
About Rae-Yen Song
Rae-Yen Song (b. 1993, Edinburgh) is an artist living and working in Glasgow. Song studied at Glasgow School of Art, and works across sculpture, drawing, installation, video, sound, costume, family collaboration and performative actions in public.
Selected projects include: a LUX Scotland moving image commission for BBC Scotland (2021); Dislocations, Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow (2021); Fabric of Society (Glasgow International, 2021); songdynasty.life (Edinburgh Art Festival, 2020); ✵may-may songuu✵, CFCCA, Manchester, 2020; Survey, Jerwood Space, London, 2018; Platform, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, 2018; Human Rights Arts Festival, JDA Perera Gallery, Colombo (2017). Recent residencies include with Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh (2019-21); Hospitalfield, Arbroath (2019); Sura Madura, Sri Lanka (2017).
Song is also the co-founder of the collaborative projects YAKA Collective and Jarsdell Solutions Ltd.Own Art
Spread the cost of buying artwork with Own Art and purchase ▥vessel▥ by Rae-Yen Song in 10 monthly payments of £36 (representative 0% APR). Email onlineshop@dca.org.uk for more information or to buy.Pick up in Store
If you would like to buy online and then collect your edition at DCA, please select the Pick up option at checkout. We will then be in touch to arrange a convenient collection time with you.
