Inspired by his experience traversing fictional virtual worlds, Tada explores the way we perceive time and matter within virtual versus physical space, forcing us to confront the ambiguity of reality in our digital age. Rhizomed Material will present new works from his “trace/dimension” series. The sculptural paintings, which seem to look like glitchy collages of three-dimensional tiles, wooden floorboards, metal drawers, and chains, are in fact made completely of acrylic paint. Phantom Emotion will present new works from his “Paintings of incomplete remains” and “Heaven’s Door” series. In the former, what appear to be cracked and deteriorating 17th century landscape paintings are actually paintings that have been artificially aged by the artist, all depicting places and times that do not exist. In the latter, Tada realistically reproduces a historical European gateway using acrylic paint and then attacks the sculpture with an axe, exposing its true composition when the material splinters and the colors within are revealed. The work, which has no function as a door, is a mere illusion, symbolizing the violent desire to go someplace else, and the futility of trying to overcome our physical limitations.