Photosensitive paper, Flames, Incense, Gunpowder, 10 x 12 inches, 2023

“Death is not the misfortune of the deceased but the misfortune of the living.” – Epicurus

Witnessing my grandfather’s passing, I felt his heartbeat cease and touched his cold hands, experiencing the pain brought about by the passing of life up close for the first time. At the funeral, as eulogies recounted his life and bid him farewell, memories flashed in my mind. Constructing images on photographic paper, these images form chapters in “Elegy”, conveying my missing for the departed.

Combining this with the traditional Chinese funeral culture of establishing a connection with the departed through burning objects, I placed items on photographic paper, used burning incense as a brush to create my images. The results of photosensitivity and development are unpredictable. The traces of burning build connections between images, conveying the metaphor of “life and death”: “Burning trees, bridges constructed from petals, and planets chasing each other in the universe”. In each moment of photosensitivity and burning, I construct metaphors about the connection between “death and loved ones”.

As the notes of the “Elegy” begin, I hope to provoke reflections on “life and death”, moving beyond the sorrow of the departed and sending nostalgia from the living.