Virus Series, 2020

Three years ago, in the South of Taiwan, a group of young people from Cemelesai’s tribe contracted a mysterious disease after doing field research in their traditional territories. This incident reminded him of the legends told by elders concerning certain territories that should be protected from human intervention. The artist drew large-scale representations of the viruses and bacteria released from the wild due to human intrusion. With their tentacles, their sinuous shapes, and their mandibles, the strange creatures float on the walls with a disquieting air. These works are not without recalling the Gaia hypothesis, formulated by inventor James Lovelock and biologist Lynn Margulis, which postulates that the Earth Surface (the Critical Zone) is a complex self-regulating system where Every single element—rocks, gas, minerals, water, atmosphere, soil—has been modified by the action of life forms, notably bacteria. As in Cemelesai’s mural, featuring a reaction from the forest after human intrusion, if Gaia is attacked, it may strike back in a retroactive loop.