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69 Capel Street, West Melbourne VIC 3003

Open Thursday, Friday (12–5pm), Saturday, Sunday (12–4pm). Check our Instagram stories for any last-minute disruptions.

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KINGS Artist-Run is a wheelchair accessible venue. Unfortunately, there is no wheelchair accessible toilet. Please contact the gallery with any access requirements and we will endeavour to support your visit.
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About

Kings Artist-Run provides a location for contemporary art practice, supporting distinctive experimental projects by artists at all stages of their careers.
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KINGS Artist-Run acknowledges the Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we operate.

We offer our respect to Elders both past and present and extend this offer to all Australian First Nations people.

Stone Skipping Skimming

Hoi Ni Jess Chow
Soyo Paek


10 September 2026–04 October 2026

Memory emerges when our present self brushes against the past, and language traces the contours of this fragile encounter. Fragments of experience glimmer like scattered light – persistent yet fleeting. As we gather and give form to each mark, stroke, and gesture lays a thin layer of time across the surface. These layers create a delicate tension between surface and space, between revelation and concealment, rendering presence and absence.

An empty space for wonders and construction of meanings, the original form of the surface material is precariously left empty. Those intentionally bare surface parts subtly create space for reverie, lingering thoughts, giving in to individual input of meaning and perception.

It is also an invitation to inspect the subtle interplay between form and nonform, where rhythm, texture, and trace become legible only through attentive observation. In this space, a new and unfamiliar language and scene emerges. Like archaeologists unearthing lost scripts, viewers excavate significance from traces, form and shapes though their own perceived understanding and experience.

The project explores the possibilities that arise between the presence and the absence, space and void. It manifests as a gesture that never settles, revealing the constant flow and reconfiguration of memory and language. Meaning is never still as language is fluid and layered. Within these movements and interaction, we see a diasporic experience, translation, and cultural negotiation. At the intersection of cultural history and language, yet not fully morphed, has left traces of disappearance and forgetfulness. The project offers a reflection of one’s experience and acceptance of inexperiences.

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  • Hoi Ni Jess Chow is an emerging artist who was born in China, raised in Hong Kong and currently practices in Melbourne, Australia. Her practice explores the psychological aspects and our experience in relation to the world around us, reflecting on the cultural histories and narratives. Informed by her psychological and cultural research, her work is often experimental in her use of materials against the traditional way of expression.
  • Soyo Paek’s practice explores what lingers in the mouth—not yet formed into words—and how it takes shape through painting. Layers of colour accumulate and overlap, rough and smooth materials meet, and gestures leave traces across the canvas. What appears is difficult to name.