Kalsy Jialin Gu

 

Born in China, lives and works between Hongkong, Beijing and London.

 

My practice explores the instability of identity, shaped by the experience of moving repeatedly from China to the United Kingdom since the age of fourteen. Existing between cultures has left me in a continuous state of negotiation, between languages, values, behaviours, and ideas of belonging. This sense of displacement informs my relationship to choice: who we choose to become, where we present ourselves, and the versions of ourselves that are left behind.

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Working primarily with metal and glass, I create life-sized cast objects and interactive sculptures that translate psychological tension into physical form. I am drawn to the contrast between the materials: metal carries weight, resistance, and permanence, while glass holds fragility, transparency, and the possibility of rupture. Together, they become a way of articulating the emotional condition of inhabiting multiple identities at once.