Synthetic Totems



ONGOING BODY OF WORK / INSTALLATIONS / 2023—

Synthetic Totems examines how contemporary civilization generates new systems of faith through material culture. Industrial objects become potential totems, mediating relationships between humans, space, and the environments they inhabit.

Rooted in field research across urban infrastructures, industrial landscapes, and everyday functional systems, the project reconfigures organic materials, architectural components, and manufactured artifacts into sculptural assemblies. Through these constructions, ritual, attachment, and symbolic meaning emerge from the operational structures of contemporary life.

Each work exists as both an individual sculpture and a fragment within a larger research framework, proposing that faith is continually formed through the objects we maintain, the systems we depend upon, and the environments we collectively construct.


RELATED_TEXT

Synthetic Totems: Fragments of the Anthropocene ↗Edge Effects / University of Wisconsin–Madison / 2025

SELECTED WORKSTYPEYR

10
KHIDR_UNSTABLE_ASSEMBLY
HT+UP.1
2026
9
SCARECROW
GT+HW.1
2024
8
SYNTH_TOTEM_AH
STT.1
2024
7
髡锁_QUENE_LOCKS_S
HT.2
2023
6
SYNTH_TOTEM_AR
STT+HW.2
2024
5
MATRIX REFORM CYCLE SERIES
STT+HW.4
2025
4
GODDESS_WHO_SELLS_TIME
FM.0
2025
3
合成簇_HYBRID_CLUSTER
HT+AR.I
2025
2
髡锁_QUENE_LOCKS_H
HT.I
2023
1
地怨虞_EARTH_GRUDGE_AWE
HT.III
2024

© 2026 DONGBAY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. LAST UPDATED 06.2026
KHIDR_UNSTABLE_ASSEMBLY
 315 × 33 × 33 cm
UV-printed cowhide, industrial electrical cables, scaffolding components, and mixed media


RAI Open Studio, RIZQ Art Initiative, Abu Dhabi, UAE
SCARECROW
 380 × 200 × 60 cm
Reclaimed Carhartt WIP garments, textile fragments, structural components, and mixed media


Terra Incognita (Unknown Land) - Part II, Barcelona, Spain
In collaboration with @Carhartt WIP
SYNTH_TOTEM_AH280 × 250 × 80 cm
Synthetic wolf-fur textile, reclaimed sheep hides, human hair, copper wire, skateboard components, and mixed media


Traceable, Parkview Green Art Center, Beijing, China

髡锁_QUENE_LOCKS_S250 x 200 x 10 cm
Reclaimed animal hides and hair, steel pipes, wind chimes, and mixed media


Terra Incognita (Unknown Land) - Part II, Barcelona, Spain
From Breath To The Dirt, 1215 Gallery, Montréal, Canada
Resample, K66 Art Space, Shanghai, China
Singularity Plan, Pier Art Center, Guangzhou, China

SYNTH_TOTEM_AR
280 × 120 × 6 cm
Reclaimed skateboard components, acrylic panels, electrical cables, concealed lighting, and mixed media


NIKE Jaya Center, Aranya, China
On The List, ALL Space, Shanghai, China

MATRIX_REFORM_CYCLE_SERIES
180 × 60 cm
UV Paints, and Acrylics On Board


CONFLUence, Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, China
Singularity Plan, Pier Art Center, Guangzhou, China
GODDESS_WHO_SELLS_TIME
350 × 200 x 180 cm
Discarded local materials, reclaimed animal hides, bamboo scaffolding, construction straps, calendar paper, text fragments, and mixed media


Nenura Tal Lake, Madhya Pradesh, India
合成簇_HYBRID_CLUSTER300 × 150 × 20 cm
Reclaimed animal hides, synthetic hair, steel components, cables, and mixed media


髡锁_QUENE_LOCKS_H260 × 150 × 100 cm
Reclaimed animal hides and hair, steel pipes, wind chimes, and mixed media


7De Wereld Wat Met Handvat Getembi lk? 798 CUBE, Beijing, China
The Trip of a Skin, Baimiao Center, Beijing, China
地怨虞_EARTH_GRUDGE_AWE
170 × 170 × 6 cm
Reclaimed animal hides, bird skulls, synthetic hair, steel components, and mixed media


Presented with the support of @AllDayTibet