Brother

My generation imagined siblings, including me. Brother stems from this absence. As only children of China’s reform era, we became the focus of family hopes. Through self-portraits and archives, I examine how meritocracy reshapes identity and family ties.

Most of my generation has imagined having siblings, including me. This was the context in which my series, Brother, was created. My current work is deeply rooted in my identity as an only child born in a prosperous era in China.

The one-child policy, governing China for 35 years, has resulted in over 150 million families ending up with only one child. Over this period, China also experienced economic reform and opening-up, entry into the WTO, and the hosting of the Olympic Games. Many families accumulated substantial wealth over these decades. In the context of both the policy and economic rise, the value systems of countless Chinese families were gradually changed. My generation, as the sole focus and beneficiary of family resources, is expected to be the protagonist in the family narrative and the key to a higher social stratum. Thus, the result-driven meritocracy has inevitably become a shared social and educational experience. This experience, inundated with identities, privileges, anxiety, and a persistent pursuit of success, has reshaped the self-understanding and relationships among individuals, families, and society. Through self-portraits, staged photographs, and family archives, I explored the negotiation between individuality and family expectations.