The Love that Remains. Sioe Jeng Tsao's picks out of the CODA collection

Quirky, colourful and engaged. The illustrative work of artist Sioe Jeng Tsao, better known as SEEYOUSIOE (born 1991, Amsterdam) is about stories. Sioe Jeng does not shy away from the topics of intersectionality, queerness, self-expression and community-building in her illustrations. Examining her own bicultural background is also an important part of her work.

Sioe Jeng x CODA
For an on-going series of exhibitions, CODA invites artists or writers to compose a show out of CODA’s collection, choosing objects based on their own insights and inspirations. This time CODA asked Sioe Jeng to select items from CODA’s extensive jewellery collection, the largest collection in the world with more than 10,000 pieces. The result is an exhibition that takes visitors on a personal journey. It is however also a journey that explores Sioe Jeng’s identity as an artist, starting with her East Asian roots and upbringing, and then moves onto the ornaments and rituals of various cultures and times. The exhibition showcases contemporary jewellery as well as 19^th-century objects, such as Javanese fans and West-African prayer beads, in combination with Sioe Jeng’s personal collection of Chinese heirlooms. The journey culminates in a large-scale mural by Sioe Jeng, which merges all the diverse influences from her past and present.
 
The title of the show, The love that remains, is a nod to the multifaceted relationship between Sioe Jeng and her mother. It describes the complex and unconditional love that binds, a bond that has always involved love as much as challenges. On show is a necklace with a golden phoenix that Sioe Jeng got from her mother via her father on her 33^rd birthday. The phoenix stands for rebirth and resilience, a fitting sentiment in light of the emotional distance that accompanied her coming-out. The show’s title also reflects Sioe Jeng’s love-hate relationship with fashion and jewellery: from a time when she rejected them defiantly to the time when she began to understand and embrace their significance.


The Exhibition
The love that remains features more than 40 items of jewellery related to queerness, feminism, migration, activism, social justice, post-colonialism, sustainability and/or intersectionality. Jewellery from the CODA collection includes pieces by more than 20 designers, including Gijs Bakker, Paul Derrez and Felieke van der Leest, as well as a selection of fashion jewellery by brands such as Chanel and DIOR. Sioe Jeng also selected some unique items from the Nusantara collection, formerly housed in the Nusantara Museum in Delft. After this museum about Indonesia and the former Dutch East Indies closed for good in 2013, the collection was carefully divided among a number of parties: some objects were repatriated to Indonesia and other objects were taken on by (museum) collections in the Netherlands and abroad. CODA Museum received a donation of 346 objects and, as a result of Sioe Jeng’s picks for this exhibition, CODA aims at further researching the background stories of several of pieces in this collection.

In making her choices, Sioe Jeng was mainly concerned with the story she wants to tell us and how the items from CODA’s collection align with the narrative.

Sioe Jeng: What is the background of the jewellery, what kinds of materials were used and where do they come from? The fragility of the pieces was also important to me: was the material brittle, delicate and old, or quite the opposite? It was very special to be able to nose around in CODA’s depot and feel out the stories each piece had to tell. That was a journey in itself. The exhibition is about stories of connection, traditions and heritage – a love that remains, regardless of the fault lines and differences, and one that ultimately brings us closer together.

Opening
The exhibition will be opened on Sunday 26 January at 2.30 pm by CODA director Carin Reinders and Sioe Jeng.
If you would like to attend the opening, please register via www.coda-apeldoorn.nl/sioejeng.


About Sioe Jeng Tsao
Sioe Jeng Tsao is a queer multidisciplinary artist and activist based in Rotterdam. Her primary focus is on contemporary digital art, using innovative techniques to express her journey and experiences as an East-Asian artist. In addition to her art, Sioe Jeng tells us more about her life journey though her essay, titled One World .

Sioe Jeng has recently started to explore traditional painting, which is adding new dimensions to her creativity. Her work ponders themes such as intersectionality, community-building and self-expression and invites viewers to look and think critically. Sioe Jeng believes in the power of art to inspire and stimulate change.

In 2024 Sioe Jeng was named one of Rotterdam's city artists. Alongside her creative efforts, Sioe Jeng wants to foster social dialogues through workshops, lectures and collaborations with various organizations. Connecting with people from different communities is important for her to promote creativity and meaningful conversations – and to create a more inclusive and just world through art.

In Amsterdam on Sunday 23 March 2025, Sioe Jeng will officially launch her first book of illustrations: My time in the sun . The book is also part of the exhibition and is available in the CODA Shop.