20 May 2007

Justin Goh casts dresses, collar shirts, shorts, and pants in expressive, animated positions that surprisingly have none of the ghostly or poignant quality that so often emanates from empty, worn clothing. Instead his hollow sculptures pulse, turn, and twist with the kind of liveliness that carries a dancer across space and compels the audience to follow every move attentively and with wonder. It’s as if Goh is crediting clothing with having an inventive, creative life of its own, a secret life that can only be expressed when we clothing racks—also known as human beings—aren’t around to wear them down. Perhaps, in fact, the clothes do make the man, just not in the way we’ve always assumed.

—Lori Waxman