我的 Rotten Mandarin was created over the course of 2016 and 2017 while living and working in Shenzhen, China. The series explores my personal experience as a foreigner and my attempt to comprehend my new surroundings. The photographs were made in my apartment and in the immediate vicinity of the building. As I moved through the space over and over again, I witnessed minute to grand transformations of my environment. As I saw my world differently, I saw myself differently. While the interior of my apartment was changing at a slow rate, the outside world was changing rapidly. In this series, the building of a new city is seen from my apartment complex as the mountain view became dominated by the construction of new skyscrapers. I explored my transitioning perception of myself and my surroundings in the still lives that I constructed.
Chinese Knot 中国结 I collected dozens of cigarette boxes found on the streets of Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Beijing. I meticulously deconstructed the boxes and hand-wove them into a 10 meter long ribbon. Half was woven while I was living in China and half once I returned to the United States. Similar to a traditional scroll, I intend for the piece to be handled by the individual reader.
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Ground Picture 地图While collecting cigarette boxes, I also collected transportation receipts from bus, taxi, ferry, and train rides in Shenzhen and Beijing. Made in a similar method as Chinese Knot, Ground Picture (地 图), is inspired by city development and is woven starting from the middle and working outward. My methodical handling of the materials is homage to my experience in China as a teacher, student, and foreigner.
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