This series was created in the first half of 2022 when I was preparing to move from Shanghai back to America after five years of being abroad. This experience helped to shape me as a person and artist. In this same spirit, this series is about two things - the way places form us and also the things that keep us grounded as we move through change. Some of these grounding activities for me include observing the natural world, focusing on everyday activities, and taking walks near bodies of water. 

Coastal Shanghai, 上海, is Chinese for “On the Sea” and walking along its rivers, canal, and shores helped to shape my experience of it. I love the way water’s many material and geographic forms, powerfully represent movement and transition. And yet like the unpredictable and ever-changing nature of human experience, the course of flowing water is often uncertain and subject to change.

Formally, my work—like water—is fluid, moving between different processes and exploring mediums like ink and stain painting. These mixed media pieces begin with abstract mark-making and are then layered with image transfers, drawings, and paint. Poetry is another source I turn to when I am processing new things and places, and for this reason, I titled many of the pieces with lines from poems I was reading over the summer.