May-ling Tang

May-ling Tang is a metal fabricator and sculptor whose biomorphic works explore the relationship between human experience and the natural world. Her practice investigates transformation and the ways cycles of birth, growth, decay, and renewal appear not only in plants and living bodies but also in industrial materials such as steel and concrete. Working with organic forms, Tang reflects on the quiet beauty of impermanence. Rusted surfaces, fractured structures, and weathered materials become visual reminders of the passage of time, showing how deterioration can reveal both loss and change. Through these material processes, her sculptures consider memory, introspection, and the fragile relationship between permanence and transformation. Tang approaches sculpture as a form of personal record that she describes as a metal diary. Each piece documents observation, emotion, and lived experience. Through texture, patina, and layered surfaces, she translates internal states into tactile forms that move between the natural and the surreal. A commitment to reuse and material transformation is central to her practice. Tang often incorporates found objects alongside materials such as metal, clay, plaster, paper, wax, plants, and concrete. Through fabrication, casting, and chemical reactions that alter the surface of materials, she creates textures and colors that echo those found in nature. Her work reveals the poetic potential of discarded materials while exploring the continuous cycles of life, decay, and regeneration.