Photography, Ashes, Video, 2023

In early 2023, after my grandfather’s passing, I returned to an empty house, faced with the objects he left behind. I photographed every corner of the room and his belongings, seeking his presence in this space…

In the traditional funeral culture of my hometown, offerings such as burned objects and paper effigies are used to commemorate the departed. Starting with flames and ending in ashes, this process made me witness flickering flames, sparking thoughts about the “presence” and “absence” of the departed.

Although I could feel my grandfather’s “absence” in his home, every corner and item in the room retained traces of his past life. I photographed these spaces, printed them on canvas, and covered them with the ashes left after burning. Extracting, covering, and highlighting these items in space, I was familiar with every corner of this space, but after the death of a loved one, I could no longer see his “presence”, making me feel unfamiliar.

I printed each corner photographed on paper, and folded them into a lotus flower for prayer. Every petal represents a part of the home, encapsulating my perception of my grandfather’s past existence. Igniting the lotus flower, I documented its burning and the loss of quality in the ashes, expressing my longing for the departed in the ritual of burning.

I hope to evoke people’s inner missing for the departed, confronting the pain of separation brought by death. Indeed, death is not the end, but oblivion is.