My Body Is a Reincarnated Population

edition of 500 . 2024
 
An artist book by ​Oscar Chan Yik Long 
Published by Bored Wolves
(photo couretsy by the artist)
 
Heart. Compass, radar detector. Lost and anxious. Parents divorce. Respect the rhythm. Fallen angels, now my stomach is all butterflies.
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In his artist’s book 'My Body Is a Reincarnated Population', Helsinki-based, Hong Kong-born artist Oscar CHAN Yik Long gives form to a pantheon of reincarnated souls embedded within him. Through ink paintings and distilled capsule texts, he maps a deeply personal cosmology of memory, trauma, and reconciliation.
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His creative process was guided by the roll of a die, used to forge connections between individuals from past lives—parents, siblings, ancestors, friends, enemies, lovers—and parts of his present body. Who formed his throat? Who grew into his tongue? Who paired as lungs? Who became skin, muscle, bone, or blood?
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At its heart, the book is a gesture of spiritual atonement, an effort toward physiological harmony for a body burdened by affliction:
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'Through my artwork, I wanted to let the people within me know that, regardless of the tragedies or conflicts that divided us in the past, I have come to terms with everything that happened between us. I sincerely apologise, I express gratitude, I forgive and send love.'
 
176 pages, 12.5×17 cm, b&w offset, sewn & glued
Printed on Arctic Munken Print White 80 and Gmund 300
Bilingual Chinese–English edition​
Chinese text edited by Mary Lee
English text edited by Stefan Lorenzutti
Designed by Samuli Saarinen
Production coordinated by Joanna Osiewicz-Lorenzutti​
ISBN 978-83-68165-04-3