Absent Husband consists 12 pieces of 70’’ x 40” photographs. Absence is a form of presence. The series of photographs is divided into diptychs acting as mirrors in which the absence of the other is reflected as a form of presence. This work tells stories of failure in romantic relationship through symbolism, gesture, and language. In this work, I use my body to play a couple in domestic lives: I wear the husband’s clothing to present his presence. The wife is on the left, and the husband is on the right. This division also physically enacts the separation of the couple. The body in this work is not only an interface that functions as a communicative vessel, but also a deeply felt expression of subjective reality. This work transcends personal experience and reality. It is an embodiment of a melancholic longing for an unrecoverable past and a memento mori as a constant reminder of the inexorable passage of time.

This work has been exhibited at Articule Artist Run Centre, Montreal, for more info about this exhibition, please visit
http://www.articule.org/en/projects/between-reality-and-transcendence
an essay about this work, by Rhonda Meier, please visit
https://chunhuacatherinedong.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Husbands-and-Wives-Chun-Hua-Catherine-Dong.pdf