I come from a diasporic family. This exhibition revolves around my migratory experience and that of my father. 

I migrated from Hong Kong (HK) to Singapore in 1996. The process of establishing an emotional connection with my new home has been a long and arduous one. The defining moments of building the connection occurred with the common experience of living through the pandemic in Singapore and the realisation that I can be a Chinese Singaporean who does not have to speak Mandarin or any Chinese dialect. Somehow, the realisation feels liberating to me. 

My father’s journey started in 1997 when he moved to Canada. Returning to HK in 2019, presumably for good, he did not expect that he would have to move again in 2023, at the age of 84.

Over the years, our paths crossed infrequently. Most of the time though, we live in each other’s memories, with the belief that life is not that cruel. My artmaking allows me to make sense of the reality, express my suppressed emotions and anticipate the future.

In my painting practice, I like to experiment with texture, which gives me the feeling of layering my different experiences and emotions. The photographic images in this exhibition mark specific incidents in our diasporic journeys. The collaging of found images from my family collection allows me to idealise the reality and rework the effect of fate and politics on our lives. 


 "sitting by the window, looking at the painting dry" is the 4th series of Photography in Southeast Asia, exhibited at Lumenvism, Hong King, April 2023. 

Using Format