FINE ART PRINTS → Thesis Project 2022-2023
One More Time, I Love You
——我有所念人，隔在远远乡
I have always been interested in the subtle connections between people. For example, when someone wants to tap you on the shoulder, you can sense something unusual when their fingertips are just an inch away from you, even though the sensation is so faint that it is almost imperceptible. It's like a slight increase in temperature in a certain spot, but the difference is so subtle that we can't be sure whether the connection exists.
The River of Forgotten, 2022Dimension: 31 x 38 inch
Edition size: 1, Cyanotype on Kumogarashi paper, silver ink etching ; pearl, glass beads and embroidery on cotton gauze
This work describes the fluid path of "life" in an ambiguous manner. The two sides connect conflicting terms such as
"death and rebirth" or "past, current, and future". I want to describe the process of melting and the residual traces of
things that cannot be melted.
A human's lifespan is only 30,000 days. We live like a parasite floating between air and water, leaving nothing more than
a shallow circle of ripples, perhaps disappearing before reaching the shore...
When it comes to an end, all the phases of life and past events are like dreams.
Is it a dream?
Is it not a dream?
Chinese like to use various ways to describe the obsession of the human heart. The word "执念 zhí niàn (obsession)" is always associated with life and death or separation. The word "执 zhi" does not connote either blind faith or a grudge. Rather, it refers to a commitment made in life that permeates so profoundly within one's being that it eclipses all else, even in the throes of death. Consequently, the individual may remain unaware of their passing and recollect solely the unfulfilled vow. The word "念 nian" is like an iron nail in one's heart, and it is said that all the iron elements extracted from a person's blood can only be used to make a small iron nail. Therefore, a bond that can penetrate the barrier of life and death must be firmly attached to the heart of the person who never forgets, just like this iron nail.
THE SEA OF FERTILITY 丰饶之海
Meng Po Soup (Soup of Oblivion), 2022Dimension: 22 x 30 inch
Edition size: 5, Etching and Aquatint on Echizen Gampi paper, BFK rives paper
The Sea of Fertility is a group of prints which includes two etchings, Meng Po Soup (Soup of Oblivion), and The Sea of Tears. They are my speculations on the concept of Meng Po Soup and the feeling of nothingness after the living soul loses its memory. In this series of etchings, I wanted to convey a hazy, barren, vast, and expansive feeling through the language of monotone images printed from copper plates. I believe that beauty that is set in stone in the process of intaglio plate-making is not true beauty. It is the uncontrollable destruction, devastation, and violence caused by material and randomness that brings beauty to its true balance.
Meng Po Soup should be a very heavy topic; after all, it concerns the imprint of a person's life. And yet, although it is strange to say, l also feel that at the same time it represents nothingness. This heavy and suffocating emptiness prompted me to create the first copperplate print in this series: Meng Po Soup. Usually when making copperplate prints, I think about the clear black and white relationships in the picture, but in this series, I want to try to create a virtual image that is neither colorless nor transparent, but has a strong sense of ash. These feelings of ash and water vapor are my expression of the joys and sorrows of countless people and scenes. The things that are deserted and neglected in the past dissipate slowly like dust, ultimately fading away and submerging into obscurity. Conversely, those that are accumulated are akin to water, hard to scatter and persist on the surface with hesitation. This is the joy and sorrow of all things in the world, as well as the sharpening of a worldly heart. In the picture of Meng Po Soup, I want to express not only a person's past, but also more fragmented and scattered things. There are forgotten objects, unforgettable experiences, and even some character traits that have been hidden by time. This is the cause and effect entanglement of right and wrong, the ups and downs of the seven emotions and six senses, and the ashes that remain after a lifetime of burning.
The Sea of Tears, 2022Dimension: 22 x 30 inch
Edition size: 5, Etching and Aquatint on Echizen Gampi paper, BFK rives paper
In The Sea of Tears, I focus on the marks that tears leave on people's hearts. Some Western legends believe tears are the byproduct of the material that becomes water when the heart is damaged. In the Chinese myth, the different tears people shed throughout their lives are the ingredients of Meng Po Soup. The soup is said to cleanse an individual's memory, freeing them from the burdens of their past life and allowing them to reincarnate into the next without any lingering attachments or traumas. This bowl of soup, or a collection of tears, is a gathering of obsessions and the most important memories of a person's life. I translate my thoughts about tears and human life through texture and marks that look similar to the dry seabed on a piece of thin Gampi paper to give a sense of softness, fragility, and pliability of everyone's memories of crying. When we cry and wipe our tears, our memories of tears will leave marks on our skin, then dry out and become invisible energy, an imprint of our existence in the world.
A DREAM EVOCATION 一盏梦还汤
A Dream Evocation - Midjanahts, 2022Dimension: 14 x 14 inch
Edition size: 1, Satin threads, glass beads, embrioderied on cyanotype-dyed silk
A Dream Evocation - Earandel, 2022Dimension: 12 x 12 inch
Edition size: 1, Satin threads, glass beads, embrioderied on cyanotype-dyed silk
Tides In The Cup, 2022Dimension: 10 x 10 inch
Edition size: 1, Satin threads, glass beads, embrioderied on cyanotype-dyed cotton
Fog On The Sea, 2022Dimension: 10 x 10 inch
Edition size: 1, Satin threads, glass beads, pearls, embrioderied on cyanotype-dyed silk
A Dream Evocation is a series of small-size embroidery and cyanotype works I created to express memories, forgetfulness, and dreams. After drinking Meng Po Soup, how does one recall their life? An individual's life comprises innumerable moments, some tiny, sparkling fragments, while others stretch out like the undulating waves illuminated by moonlight. Everything is a detail, a paragraph of life. It's endless, in various forms. No matter how deeply one holds a grudge or no longer cares, everything is entangled together, forming a kind of endless confusion.
People can let go of the past, but if the past itself has a soul, how can one let go of it again and say goodbye to oneself? In the darkness, tiny specks of light flicker like dust, because the old grudges and entanglements, as well as the unrelenting desires, are all intertwined. It's the obsession one lets go of and the yearning another picks up. I use blue silk threads of varying shades, stacked to create a pattern with shimmering waves, which represent the mist at sea, the tides in a cup, the moon hanging in the endless night, the eternal loneliness on the moon, and the dreamlike world.
"One More Time, I Love You ——我有所念人，隔在远远乡" is a project that delves into the profound nature of "obsession," which surpasses the boundaries of life and death, as well as the mortal world and the underworld. The interpretation of this type of obsession varies among individuals, and my understanding of it originates from the traditional Chinese myth concerning the afterlife journey.
According to this myth, upon departing from the mortal realm, the deceased traverse the Bridge of Helplessness, cross the Forgotten River, peruse their past, present, and future lives on a Three Lives Stone, and then partake in the Soup of Oblivion. This soup cleanses all memories of their current life, leaving behind only an unblemished and pure consciousness ready for the next life. Although the tangible and discernible elements have completely vanished, the intense nature of obsession can permeate the flesh and bones, disregarding the coexistence of yin and yang within this world. My fascination lies in this delicate, yet profoundly overpowering emotion that transcends the boundaries of life and death. This thesis serves as an introspective exploration of my emotions at a specific juncture in time. Through my artistic works, I attempt to express the ineffable obsessions that elude verbalization, encapsulating both my personal experiences and the resonant emotions they evoke. These works bear the invisible burdens I may not even be conscious of, eventually converging into a nuanced spectrum of blue, symbolizing my own version of the Soup of Oblivion and Three Lives Stone, embodying tangible connections within my uncertain future.
Come, Sweet Death, 2023Dimension: 26.5 x 31 inch
Edition size: 3, Etching and Aquatint on Aizome Paper
意踟蹰 Where Dreams Rest, 2023Dimension: 26.5 x 31 inch
Edition size: 5, Etching and Aquatint on Aizome Paper
One more time, I Love You, 2023Dimension: 8.25 x 12.5 x 10.5 inch
Ink and Cyanotype on Unryu paper, Shin inbe paper, dyed Tosa paper, Gampi paper, Stonehenge paper; satin threads on silk organza; glass beads, acrylic, and book boards
Edition size: 7 and 1(with structured box)
*thesis book
**click image to read more about this artist’s book
星陨之绊 The Ties of the Fallen Stars, 2023Dimension: 13.5 x 15 x 20 inch
Intaglio print on Aizome papers, Unryu paper, book boards, acrylic, glass beads, satin threads, silk organza, abaca pulp, stone clay; Letterpress printed on Zerkall Ingres paper
Edition size: 3
**click image to read more about this artist’s book