Proposal Abstract

My original proposal was to show 50 melting ice sheets one by one with the word ‘true’ on it as a print installation. Since the show will be online, the viewers cannot walk around the pieces, I created a single channel melting print video piece. I collected several different expressions for the feeling of detachment. Anxiety could come in so many forms, especially in this uncertain year. The whole world turned upside down around us, and values lost their meanings. I learned recently how hard it is to let go of certain things in our life, rather it be feelings, objects or loved ones. According to Buddhism, we must let go of attachments and desires if we are to experience happiness. However, letting go doesn’t mean you don’t care about anyone and anything. As a printmaker, I explore the Ephemeron—or shifting material states of each piece as it grows in time, decays, and leaves a trace of memory. My prints can take the shape of a psychic imprint with deeper, more sentient engagement in the inner life of the viewer. Nothing lasts forever; paradoxically, sometimes all you can do is to wait for something to change. This metaphor speaks to the organic metamorphoses of my materials: print on paper, melting ice sheets, or fragile sand prints. I also print words that indicate coinciding feelings that mark me for what seems to be an eternity. For, I lose the sense of time in what feels like endless isolation. These sentient impressions of my work may be more important than the survival of the work itself.