Seeing Off Without Seeing Series 2023-2024
‘Seeing off without seeing’ series reflect the parting scenes between me and my family, which strangely cannot be recalled or visualized. Thus, I reflect on my imagination of these moments, inspired by parting scenes of other families captured and posted on Chinese social media. The most touching aspect for me is that strong emotions are often hidden in these contexts, and the family members who stay behind keep gazing in the direction their loved ones have left, long after they disappear beyond the horizon. I played with the scales of tiny figures and huge surroundings, aiming to create vast spaces and evoke strong emotions on small surfaces without exposing any facial expressions maybe with a little hint revealed on the gesture. I mounted rice paper on unprimed canvas to combine dreamy and solid qualities, creating a sense of distance while unifying memories and reality in one picture. Additionally, ink on slate tile examines these themes from other perspectives, grounded in the symbolic significance of the roofing material and, for example, in this picture, of a single tree. The emptiness in my artworks serves to convey feelings of loss and regret while also aesthetically creating an ideorealm that extends beyond the artwork itself, aligning with its function in traditional Chinese ink painting.