Suffocating, 2026

Installation part: Wood, aluminum, cutting dust, shadow

Window part:Oil on silk, linen, silk, organza, polyester, cotton thread, linen thread, silk thread, beech wood.

The Cross-Section Is Dangerous, 2026

870x353x35cm

Fiberglass wall, fishing line, pva

Infiltration(corner), 2026

Glass, Xanthan Gum, Biological antibacterial preservative, Water, Rubber

https://www.leeumhoam.org/hoam/exhibition/96?params=Y

Ruofan Chen focuses on the relationship between art and labor, exploring the work that takes place behind the spaces prepared for exhibition and the invisible risks that accumulate through these processes. During a visit to a furniture factory in Wuhan, she came across the working environments of carpenters and other labourers, and began to consider the dust they continuously inhale while constructing buildings, as well as the illnesses that can result from prolonged exposure to such environments. Beneath a house collapsed in a dramatic form, sawdust lies in a soft layer.

The artist pays close attention to the physical properties and safety of the materials used in her work, as well as the working conditions involved in its production. Industrial materials such as fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) and urea-formaldehyde resin are widely used in construction and manufacturing, yet materials such as glass fibre and resin can have physical and chemical effects on the human body during the production process. By bringing the functions and potential hazards of these materials into view, Chen draws attention not only to the finished work but also to the labor and processes of production that make it possible. In particular, the material used in this work, which resembles resin in appearance, meets food-grade safety standards.

To reveal the form of the glass fibre embedded within FRP, the artist uses fishing line to recreate a similar structure. By transforming a material structure normally concealed for industrial purposes into a visible form, the work brings to light the materials and labour beneath the surfaces of architecture and production, as well as the invisible risks that accumulate through these processes.