Outside the Window, Inside the Tank

"Outside the Window, Inside the Tank" explores home and identity through intimate portraits, rituals, and fleeting connections. A tank symbolizes decay and renewal, while themes of impermanence and belonging reflect my journey between New York and Chengdu

"Outside the Window, Inside the Tank" reflects my shifting sense of home and identity as I move between New York and Chengdu. The series weaves intimate portraits, fleeting connections, and quiet rituals into a narrative that mirrors my own journey of self-reflection and transformation.

The tank—a recurring motif in the series—serves as both a container of decay and renewal. Submerged self-portraits dissolve, overtaken by mold, while fragments of memory emerge as something entirely new. Elsewhere, family rituals like my grandmother’s Touqi ceremony anchor me to cultural traditions, even as I redefine my place within them.

Photographs of friends and lovers capture the tension between closeness and separation, documenting transient moments of connection that feel both fragile and eternal. Whether it’s a couple mid-conversation, a friend visiting after years apart, or the frozen Charles River daring me to reconnect with my past, these images are about what lingers and what inevitably slips away.

This work is deeply personal yet universal, grappling with themes of impermanence, intimacy, and the ways we hold onto—or let go of—the people, places, and identities that shape us.