Postcards from Chao Ah Gua (2024)
Digital C Type Prints, Installation, Hydrochromic Ink.
48 pages, 经折装 (Chinese Accordion-Style) Binding,
Thermochromic Ink, Postcards.
Emerging from a conversation between two friends with differing perspectives on queerness, Chao Ah Gua examines how each of my participants navigate their identity as queer Asian men. Shot between Singapore and London, the project addresses the lack of nuanced queer representation, particularly within East and Southeast Asian experiences. Thermochromic ink obscures the portraits, giving sitters control over their visibility. At the same time, the images can be revealed by the warmth of the viewer’s hands, symbolising how a gentler, more understanding approach can encourage participants to reveal their true selves. By inviting my participants to articulate how they choose to live as gay men, the series lays the foundation for an archive of Asian gay experiences, highlighting their complexity, diverse pathways, and the space these queer identities can take up.
Chao Ah Gua (2024) as part of the Maybe Someday, One Day group exhibition.
Flipthrough of the book, Chao Ah Gua (2024).
Copyright © Lim Jun Hao, 2025