The Obsidian Isle

Gayle Chong Kwan is a London-based artist whose large-scale photographic works, installations, sound works and videos have been exhibited internationally.

'The Obsidian Isle' is a significant new body of work for Chong Kwan which documents a fictional island located off the west coast of Scotland, on which reside one country's lost and destroyed buildings and places.

The ten large-format photographs are constructed from found images, three-dimensional elements and medium-format photographs taken by the artist, which are re-made as mise-en-scenes of the island, which are then photographed in the studio.

To accompany this exhibition we created an edition of 500 publication that contained essays and photographical plates of the works. The book cover is mirrored black, a nod to traditions of Claude glass used by landscape artists in the late 18th century. The surface is protected by a fictional map of the 'The Obsidian Isle' that wraps around the cover.

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gaylechongkwan.com