Judy Kong | Sinking here, Floating there

Artist Statement

I leave from here, arriving there,
breathing to an unfamiliar rhythm,
between ground and water,
water and ground.

I arrive here, leaving there,
water runs into my skin,
I am adapting to the shifting temperature.

When I began leaving home, arriving here meant leaving there. This cycle is endless. Sinking here, Floating there is a video installation that explores the inner realm of personal migration experiences, highlighting the cycle of attachment and detachment from places, family, and cultural values. The project draws inspiration from the bodily experience of walking in water, portraying a body existing in two spaces—above the water and underneath it —and the sensation of hearing sounds both in the air and underwater. The contrast between these elements serves as a metaphor for complex emotions, such as unfamiliarity and nostalgia, associated with being in between.

This artwork interlaces a poetic personal narrative, drawing from subjective perception to shape a video and sound. Through the abstraction of time-based, luminous, spatial, and textual mediums, it channels a lens of lamentation to evoke the essence of emotions and inner realms, responding to the truth of feeling with depth and empathy. 

Artist Bio

Judy Kong is a multimedia artist, born in Hong Kong and based in Melbourne, Australia. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University. Judy Kong’s art practice explores the transformation of her inner realm into spatial, visual, and material forms, using subjective abstraction to articulate complex perceptions and affects.  Drawing deeply from personal perceptual encounters, her work offers a lens of lament on universal themes. Grounded in authenticity, self-immanence, and cultural values, Judy’s practice seeks to create common ground in artistic experiences, embodying a subtle yet impactful soft politic.

Judy’s art has been exhibited in Australia and Hong Kong. Judy has presented a solo exhibition at First Site Gallery in Melbourne and has exhibited at numerous venues including the Hong Kong Arts Centre and the Trocadero Project. She was selected for the ACMI X Residency 2025 at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.