Page 58 - Winter Issue

Your work blends psychology, philosophy, and auto-ethnography. How do you integrate these fields into
your artistic process, and what role do they play in shaping the immersive environments you create?
Auto-ethnography is at the core of my creative process; it lets me root my work in personal experience while observing
myself from an external perspective. My work often starts with a micro-level exploration of an emotion or phenomenon,
then expands through psychological and philosophical insights to give it richer meaning. Psychology helps me
understand the deep mechanisms of emotion and memory, while philosophy allows me to dig into fundamental
questions about existence. Together, they let me find a balance between emotion and thought, so my work resonates
both deeply and meaningfully. For example, in ‘Sleeping in the Wood’, I draw on Heidegger’s concept of “Dasein” to
create an immersive sculptural piece that connects the self to space in a poetic way. This setting invites viewers to join in
a shared experience of “Mitdasein,” or shared presence. In combining psychology, philosophy, and auto-ethnography,
my work becomes a space for exploring memory, identity, and emotion, both for myself and my audience.
In your artist statement, you mention the "subtle connections between our inner worlds and the spaces
we inhabit." Could you elaborate on how you visualize or interpret these connections through your
multimedia approach?
To me, the relationship between our inner worlds and the spaces around us is layered and interconnected. Merleau-
Ponty’s idea of “lived space” influenced this perspective, and in my work, I use multimedia to bring out these
connections. For instance, in ‘The Tent’, the piece is both a reflection of my life in London and an extension of my
personal, private space. I use symbolic imagery within a digital bedroom to build an otherworldly space made of
memories and emotions—a surreal blend of intimacy and foreignness. Through this environment, I try to reflect my
experiences as an immigrant woman in a new city. I hope viewers can see their own inner worlds in relation to their
surroundings and feel inspired to rethink how their memories and identities shape their perceptions of space. Using
symbols, sound, and lighting, I want to challenge the idea of real versus imagined connections and explore how we
construct these personal spaces.
Feminism and social issues are central to your practice. How do these themes manifest in your work, and
how do you navigate the intersection between personal identity and broader societal narratives?
Feminism and social critique are at the core of my work. I use deconstruction and reassembly to explore female identity
and cultural colonization. For example, in ‘Polyhedron’, I use symbolic items to represent the pressures and constraints
that East Asian women face within cultural traditions. Auto-ethnography allows me to start with personal experiences
and expand them to broader historical and social perspectives. Many struggles and emotions I experience are also
universal, and I find resonance with the work of other female artists like Tracey Emin and Helen Chadwick, who explore
the position of women in social power dynamics. My work often becomes a point of intersection between the individual
and the collective, allowing viewers to experience both the personal identity of women and the larger gender structures
that shape their lives.
Auto-ethnography is a unique research method in art. Can you explain how it informs your creative
process, and how do you balance the personal with the universal in your work?
Auto-ethnography is both a tool and a mirror in my work, helping me turn individual stories into something that others
can connect with. It lets me explore my own narrative and, from there, connect it with broader social and cultural
structures. In my ‘Traces’ series, for instance, I combine personal items and stories to explore the relationship between
self and environment in a way that resonates on a more universal level. Auto-ethnography allows me to dive deeply into
personal stories while reaching out to universal themes that others can relate to. This balance is essential in creating a
space where individual experience and collective understanding can coexist.
Your art often challenges conventional perceptions of identity and existence. What are some of the key
philosophical questions or concepts that you aim to explore through your pieces?
Identity is a central theme in my work, especially the fluidity between self and environment, subject and object, and our
fundamental ideas of existence. Depending on the project, I explore identity within different contexts: as the self, as it
interacts with the environment, and as part of a collective. In ‘No.0-PI De-sanctified Symphony’, for example, I look at
identity as a decentralized, ever-evolving construct through plant intelligence, which challenges rigid identity
frameworks. Growing up in Beijing, I often felt a silent social pressure shaping who I was, which made me long for true
mental freedom. My art acts as a tool—a hammer of sorts—to break the boundaries placed on me by society and
myself, pushing me towards a liberated form of self. I hope my work can inspire viewers to reflect on the relationship
between identity, freedom, and the structures that confine us.

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