Tong Yang

Tong Yang 杨桐

Artist and curator based in London and Shanghai.

Tong's work ranges from sculptural installation, performance, film, and digital gaming, drawing on personal and heretical memories, into the complexities of desire and relational dynamics. She creates sculptural forms that remain inert until activated by the viewer’s presence, establishing a reciprocal relationship between participant and object.

Her practice explores how recurring actions shape identity, regulate behaviour, and imprint collective memory. She inquires the forces behind repetition of actions, how these cycles influence the body, construct subjectivity, and reinforce systems of authority, examining how individuals navigate unpredictable systems of chance, redirection, and constraint.

"Subject and object coexist in continuous exchange, defining one another. Power is understood not as a top-down force, but as a fluid and relational, emerging through engagement and interaction." (Tong Yang)

At the core of her practice is a critical engagement with how desire and discipline intersect to shape lived experience. Her works aim to serve as metaphors for family dilemmas and wider social frameworks, offering space for reflection through play and participation.