research

In 2020, when I was trapped at home during COVID lockdown, I found a catalogue of Zhang Daqian's copies of Dunhuang mural paintings at home, and I was fascinated by the fluent lines and beautiful colour of Buddhist art. Hence, I started to copy and make some small drawings of the Buddha from the catalogue.

To continue the exploration with different media, I made some embroidery experiment and started to focus on the subject of HANDS.

And Also some animations with lines...
By tracing different hands digitally using photoshop, and playing around with the placement, combining, layering...

In 2021, I made 100 ink illustrations/animations with the subject of hands, to explore the possibilities and imagination of hands, which later became part of the fundamental materials of 'FACTORY'.

And also some experiments with Chinese Typography. (Related to Buddhism）

Working with the murals makes me appreciate the elegant drawing of hands in Dunhuang Buddhist art. Not only the shapes are impeccably reproduced, but the brushstrokes also embed movements in the hands, rendering the drawing more vivid and dynamic. This is the most well-illustrated in the paintings of Gandharva. One can almost hear the music from the instruments through their gestures.

I was therefore spurred to bring the underlying movements in the drawings alive through modern technology. I copied the hands from the mural paintings and converted them into animations. By digitalising the shapes of the hands and overlaying the movement of the hands with music created by digital software, I would like to show the possibility of modern technology in engaging with and reinterpreting ancient art.

'Study of Hands' was first exhibited at Trocadero Art Space (Melbourne) in 2021, and later exhibited again with 'FACTORY' at SomoS Art House Berlin in 2022.

At some moment the research and work on hands become more and more present the idea of creatures and how that animism from Chinese Buddhism art also applies to EYES, OBJECTS and PLANTS. that is how the factory was born and their 4 departments

And that's how the idea of FACTORY came out for the very first time.

I took out the four main elements that keep appearing in Dunhuang Buddhist art: HANDS, EYES, PLANTS, and OBJECTS, and started to think about creating a new narrative concept by reorganizing and rearranging those elements.

I'm always interested in exploring different ways of constructing and telling a story, and that really made me feel very excited to create new fiction, by combining the traditional arts with modern technologies.

How FACTORY Started?

Some early imagination of 'FACTORY' by using C4D rendering.

Trying to make ceramic HANDS by using CLAY，

Playing around with all the materials and stuffs I've been making...

AI generation experiments.
To explored some imaginations of the site/outside view of FACTORY.

In April 2022, I was doing a residency at SomoS Art House Berlin. I would like to create an installation for the final residency exhibition, hence I started to experiment with some plaster, resin, in order to create some props for the installation.
As HANDS were the first subject that I started with, I was focusing in developing the Department of HANDS at that time.

Here was the moment when the project of 'FACTORY' started

By gathering the materials like drawings, ceramics, books, embroideries, photographs, I was thinking what's the best way to combine those materials together

This is the first video I made for 'FACTORY', it can be seen as an introduction video of the narrative that allows the audience to know briefly about the concept of FACTORY.
This video was focusing on the Department of HANDS and Department of Reorganization.

Exhibition at SomoS Art House Berlin.
Video Installation 'Study of Hands' with '100 Ideas of Hands', and also the video 'FACTORY'.

In October 2022, I participated in the online residency of GlogauAIR. In order to show my work better virtually, I build up this website on hotglue to present the project 'FACTORY'.

This time, I'm focusing on developing the department of EYES.

Again, I started a new series of illustration '100 ideas of Eyes'.

‘FACTORY’ is a bricolage that told a story about a fictional historical laboratory in an idiosyncratic narrative form. It also involved my interests in juxtaposing and combining the ancient arts with modern technologies, such as video games and social media.