Video documentation, 3 min 50 sec.
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong 2023
Video projection and installation (6 min 16 sec, b&w with sounds)
Approx. 6 x 10m
Video documentation - Projection on wall, 6 min 16 sec, b&w with sound.
Freezing Water: Between Here and There
Freezing Water: Between Here and There draws on the classic Chinese landscape painting composition of “one river, two banks”, symbolising emotional encounters and farewells across a divide. Installed in a transitional space with a wooden bridge linking reality world to the exhibition space, it uses video projection, fragmented black glass resembling water, and objects like silhouette cutouts, a crescent moon, glass ripples, and a small abstract painting of a female profile to guide viewers from the real world to emotional realms, reflecting themes of separation, longing, and renewal.
The video opens with serene imagery of calm rivers and lush landscapes, evoking “one river, two banks” to symbolise emotional clarity. It shifts to chaos, blending footage of Japan’s 2011 tsunami and wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and the Middle East with ruins. Cinematic references, including Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice (tree-planting for hope, echoing the lone tree surviving Japan’s tsunami and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil), Godard’s Weekend (social collapse), Hitchcock’s The Birds (unknown threats), and Bergman’s The Seventh Seal (Dance of Death), highlight humanity’s destructive capacity and emotional turmoil. The journey concludes with a burning chair—referencing the artist’s grandmother’s funeral—fading to white, symbolising spiritual renewal and life’s cyclical nature, aligning with themes of emotional catharsis.
Silhouette cutouts, a crescent moon, glass ripples, and the abstract female profile painting evoke familial love, friendship, and romantic longing, open to interpretation. By blending documentary and cinematic elements, Freezing Water amplifies real-world emotional resonance, bridging viewers’ realities with timeless sentiments.
