Tap Chan

Mou Projects is pleased to present Fabric of Belonging, Tap Chan’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. Showcasing nine newly created bodies of work—including sculptures, installations, photographs, and a double-channel video work—the exhibition seeks to weave the concept of diasporic existence. It evokes the imagination of journeys to distant galaxies and the disorientation of being lost, all while encapsulating a longing for escape.

Upon entering the space, visitors are immediately drawn to Their Sun: Our Sun (2024), strategically positioned in the gallery’s first segment. This piece embodies Chan’s exploration of wormhole theory and its ontological implications. Comprising six modular forms that mirror the curvature and topology of a wormhole, the work serves as a visual metaphor for mass migration and displacement. Its interior surfaces are gilded with 24-karat gold, symbolizing the wormhole’s immutable constancy, while its exterior, made from an iron composite, will gradually oxidize—signifying the inevitable entropy of time. This interplay between permanence and decay prompts reflection on the dialectical relationship between the eternal and the ephemeral, the cosmic and the corporeal. The sun within this work alludes to an astral voyage through the void, where the pursuit of new suns becomes a poignant metaphor for migratory trajectories in search of new beginnings.

Dominated by a silvery hue, the exhibition immerses viewers in an atmosphere of futuristic speculation and infinite expanse, evoking the boundlessness of space. At its center, a silver curtain wall bisects the gallery, concealing Liquid Memory (2025). This installation recreates the water cycle, embodying its cyclical nature and provoking contemplation on water’s primordial significance. The piece encapsulates the perpetual flow of water, reminding us that the water we consume today has traversed meteoric origins and biological cycles, binding us to both ancient pasts and distant futures. Through its infinite recursiveness, the work serves as both a vessel of temporal memory and a speculative model of data storage, hinting at the convergence of past and future, the terrestrial and the extraterrestrial.

Further exploring the intersection of the organic and the artificial, Where there is Honey, there is Home (2025) invokes the symbolic presence of bees to examine the convergence of nature’s primal vitality with human ingenuity. This vertical sculpture, predominantly rendered in yellow, evokes the form and function of a beehive, its layers mimicking organic architectural structures. Crafted from organic beeswax—used by bees to construct their habitats—and reinforced with spacer bars, a material commonly found in modern urban architecture, the work seamlessly merges natural wisdom with industrial design. Through this synthesis, Chan reimagines the relationship between the organic and the constructed, suggesting that nature’s inherent intelligence offers insight into the evolution of human spaces.

Blending intergalactic imagination, existential bewilderment, and the resilience of nature, Chan’s works draw on both the speculative and the elemental, exploring the tension between human longing and the vastness of the cosmos. Through her practice, Chan reflects on the desire to rebuild and belong, intertwining ancient cycles with the enduring hope of reconnection in the face of displacement.

Tap Chan’s practice, spanning installation, video, and sculpture, probes the ambiguous boundaries of liminality and the dualities embedded in daily life. Chan fabricates a psychological space of uncertainty in her works, often juxtaposing a pair of tête-bêche (head-to-tail) objects in one setting to reflect an active meditation on the multifaceted nature of the cosmos. Bringing together macro and micro universes with metaphors, fantasies, and imagination together, she is interested in the transitional spaces of humans and architectures.

Tap Chan received her BFA in Sculpture from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2012, and her MA in Visual Arts from Hong Kong Baptist University in 2014.

The artist currently lives and works in Hong Kong.