Linye Jiang: Undisclosed Location
Looking at the large photographs on paper by Linye Jiang suspended on wire above requires an additional step to view both the front and back in order to complete the picture. And what we see at first as beautifully scenic terrain of faraway lands and distant shores, idyllic getaways abroad prompts the question about whether these images are simply documents of a personal trip, keepsakes like souvenirs to preserve memories or a travel brochure shoot to entice eager tourists or perhaps just a nod to the grand tradition of landscape painting?
But on the other side lies a clue when the artist unexpectedly appears from behind the camera and enters the same frame in the foreground akin to Tseng Kwong Chi except off site, away from the actual location, the “Ambiguous Ambassador” forever the outsider.
And so Linye Jiang partakes in subterfuge, a kind of photographic hide-and-seek and show and tell, teasing someplace known without telling us where.
In a world tracked by GPS, it is certainly hard to escape being exactly pinpointed no matter where you are. The dream sometimes is to be off the grid, to go far away. Yet despite the secrecy, what the artist is trying to conceal might be hidden in plain sight. She not only asks the viewer where is this place we are looking at but really what it might all mean to be added in hindsight, an afterthought… To include herself back in the picture.
Photo credit: Linye Jiang