「翼望之山,有獸焉,其狀如狸,一目而三尾,名曰讙,其音如奪百聲」。
—《山海經•西山經》
In Mount Yiwang, there exists a beast known as Huan, who resembles a wild cat with a single eye and three tails and is capable of mimicking a myriad of voices.
— Authors unknown, “The Classic of Mountains and Seas", 3rd century BC to 2nd century AD
The tide is higher or lower, she couldn't tell you which is a project initiated at my December 2023 residency at Casa Lü, Mexico City. Central to the project is a video installation, using the fantastical creature Huan 讙 from Chinese mythology as the narrator of a monologue with no clear intended audience. I drew inspiration partly from alebrijes, supernatural animal figures that first revealed themselves to Mexican cartonero artist Pedro Linare in 1943 in a fever dream. Through this project, I reflect on the shared human desires behind the existence of folklore and mythology across cultures and their role and relevance in contemporary society, and invite viewers to consider the boundary between the known and unknown, the real and mythical.
Alongside the video, I also experimented with black velvet paintings, which gained wild popularity in rural America in the late 20th century, with Ciudad Juaréz as the major centre of production in the 1970s. Typically associated with unforgivingly bad taste, velvet paintings are often seen as the ultimate kitsch and never taken seriously by the fine-art world largely due to their tacky subject matters and low price point. I want to play with the unique, captivating characteristics of the material, while contemplating the idea of existing in spaces that challenge conventional understanding, where identity and the perception of reality are in flux or outside the norms.
You see, I’m not really from here.
I’m not really from anywhere.
They say where I grew up is where the first bird on earth took flight, but I’m not sure if I believe it…
It doesn’t matter - I am here now. On a mountain that used to be a lake.
The other day I was walking along a big street that I could not cross - there were too many cars. So I kept walking and walking, waiting for a gap. The walking is waiting and waiting is walking. I wanted to tell you, with pride, when I finally made it to the other side - but I forgot - like I often do. You know me. But yes, I think about you all the time.