For scientists, identifying and examining the approximately 37.2 trillion cells of the human body one by one under a microscope may well be simply a matter of time and technology. The latest scientific research even shows that only 43% of those 37.2 trillion cells originated in the human being. The rest belong to microorganisms. Using the cell images of these various organisms as the source of artistic creation has given Ling Pui Sze a glimpse of the larger world. 

Over the past several years, Ling ’s creative expression has taken the form of printing, tearing, and shading. She tears up images of cells collected from the internet, then pieces together the treated fragments using her intuitive understanding of nature. Ling further used her own cell images and x-ray films in her new series of works, which shift from exploring the exteriority of the world to the interiority of the self. Compared to the orderly arrangement of the actual cells, her newly constructed versions appear deconstructed and haphazard, organised according to her non-scientific logic. Yet at the same time, they contain the unpredictable power of life. Ling has further intervened by drawing lines intended as the multiple retracings of her body’s rhythms. These follow no inherent pattern, but instead attempt to embrace life’s messiness and seek out the equilibrium of the self in the unprecedented time. 

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