Casey Chen is included in An Offering, A Burning, A Prayer – a group exhibition at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art presenting new and existing works by six Asian Australian and Asian artists.
Bringing together artists Casey Chen, Choy Ka Fai, WeiZen Ho, Emma Pham, Jason Phu and Savanhdary Vongpoothorn, the exhibition explores how fire exists and transforms within ritual and ceremony. Drawing on traditions surrounding Lunar New Year, acts of burning – from incense offerings to the smoke of cleansing woods – become gestures of remembrance, renewal and connection with ancestors.
The exhibition also resonates with broader cultural understandings of fire. For millennia, First Nations peoples have practised forms of Cultural Burning – small, carefully managed fires used to sustain Country, clear undergrowth and encourage new growth. These acts of care and renewal echo the cyclical rhythms of Lunar New Year, where the turning of the calendar invites reflection, cleansing and the possibility of beginning again.
Surrounding An Offering, A Burning, A Prayer are ideas of faith intersecting with contemporary artistic expression. The exhibition reflects on the enduring legacies of traditional cultural practices while responding to the present moment. For many, the Year of the Horse signals a point of rupture and reset – a moment to move forward with clarity and renewed purpose, where the symbolism of the Fire Horse suggests a fierce momentum toward change.
Through moments of meditation, transformation and celebration, the exhibiting artists offer new ways to consider how and why we participate in enduring rituals, guiding us toward an uncertain yet generative future.
