Lotus L. Kang The face of desire is loss, 2026

The large-scale work was conceived for the Bvlgari Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale.

Lengths of unfixed photographic film are suspended from steel joists whose structure echoes that of the lotus root. Drapped over and across steel tubes, the lengths of film create an undulating expanse. Termed ‘skins’ by the artist, the film remains continuously sensitive to its environment for the duration of the Biennale. The shadowy impressions on the film create layered, visceral timescales, rendered in a palette of yellow, orange, red, purple and brown. By intentionally misusing the material, exposing it to sunlight and manipulating its exposure in both planned and unforeseen ways, the artist has invented modes of inscribing her process, turning the film into indexes of overlapping durations.