Withdrawn from the fish market 退出市场的魚

Withdrawn from the Fish Market presents an abundant fish stall selling numerous carp. In China, the carp is cherished as a national fish and symbolizes perseverance and self-discipline in Confucian philosophy. However, in Australia, carp are invasive species introduced decades ago, devastating river ecosystems through their adaptive feeding and reproduction. Artist Shen Shaomin produces hyper-realistically painted carp with glassy eyes and internal mechanisms that mimic breathing, allowing them to migrate across galleries and contexts. In this installation, reconfigured in relation to Sydney's Fish Market relocation, the work metaphorically explores how migration—whether of species or people—reshapes environments in ways that are both generative and destructive. The carp's vacuum-style feeding method, which stirs sediments and reduces water clarity, parallels the experience of migrant populations adjusting to new surroundings. Presented alongside canned food, the work considers how change spreads and ripples outward, reshaping entire systems in unpredictable and never-neutral ways.