Mesoderm (You III)

Lotus L. Kang (Toronto, b. 1985) is known for her interdisciplinary practice focused on the relationship of the human body to its environment and the nature of impermanence both physically and historically. This collage is part of the series Mesoderm, a reference to the middle germ layer in early embryonic cell development in most animals. Like a seed, the mesoderm contains the components necessary for an organism to mature. Kang uses a flesh-colored palette throughout the series and her approach mirrors the gestational process as she combines different media into her work in sculpture, photography, drawing and installation. On this photogram, she uses studio supply remnants like tissue paper along with gestural line drawing composed with darkroom chemicals, oil pastel, and ink. The present work debuted in Kang's exhibition Already at 52 Walker in 2025 which draws its title from an eponymous poem by Kim Hyesoon-- one of forty-nine from her book Autobiography of Death (2019), which considers the Buddhist tradition of after-death rituals performed for forty-nine days during the intermediate period spanning death and rebirth. This drawing features a baby bird, a figure which repeats throughout the exhibition and which, for Kang, symbolizes the cyclical nature of bodies and the desperate need to survive.