Ouro

OURO, short for ouroboros, is the latest work in an ongoing collaborative series by artists Samuel Kim and Lawrence Liang. Continuing the visual language established in OTTO & ANINA at Parramatta Lanes 2024, the work uses vibrant, playful pop-inspired aesthetic to disarm expectations and create an accessible entry point into deeply human and philosophical themes. OURO explores the eternal cyclical nature of existence, where endings and beginnings remain inseparable through continual destruction, transformation, and rebirth. Drawing from the ancient symbol of the ouroboros, historically represented by a serpent consuming its own tail across Egyptian mythology, alchemy, to Jungian psychology, the work reimagines this icon as a disarmingly cute surreal sausage dog weaving through the urban environment. The installation consists of five interconnected modules. The head emerges dramatically from a building facade, framed by radiating petals, while the tail disappears into the ground through an absurd floral interdimensional portal. Three additional body segments undulate throughout the site, creating an immersive pop up playground. Each module is covered in vibrant supergraphic iconography representing the six realms of Samsara, the Buddhist cycle of rebirth. The visual language layers Samuel Kim’s absurdist graffiti aesthetics on top of Lawrence Liang’s immersive 3D parametric graphic design backgrounds. OURO is designed as both sculpture and social space. Visitors are invited to play, rest, interact, and reflect. Through softness, curiousity, and participation, the work encourages playfulness and connection, proposing human connection and absurdity as meaningful responses to the endless cycles of contemporary life.