Theresa Chong combines computer-generated landscapes and doodles with the scanned and manipulated imagery of abstract painters. However, her intricate, detailed, and fragile work invokes the hand of the artist rather than its digital origins. To develop her compositions, the artist traces gestural marks from the creations of significant Abstract Expressionist painters, such as Willem de Kooning. She then digitally merges these with her own linear interventions to create a singular image. The resulting forms establish the basis for a final drawing that she maps out by hand onto rice paper. Additionally, Chong adds what she calls “joint points” wherever two lines can be connected to emulate a brush stroke. This aesthetic element is meant to mimic the “highlight” function found in many software programs, such as Adobe Illustrator. Throughout her practice, Chong’s painstaking combination of old and new mediums stems from her desire to keep “the heartbeat of the abstract expressionist gesture alive,” despite the prevalence of contemporary technology.

Label from Drawing: The Beginning of Everything, July 8–October 15, 2017