A dream that you would never wake up from – Chelsea Ning

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Artist : Chelsea Ning

Series : A dream that you would never wake up from

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As I spend less and less time in my motherland, I feel that crossing the boundaries between two lands( borders) is like a dream I will never wake up from. The border is sharp, yet my memories of the physical places and people become blurry. As I grow up, the nostalgia and reminiscences become visceral each time I leave and arrive at a certain destination. 

In this project A dream that you would never wake up from, I try to connect my migration and displacements with my ancestors, or at least, my grandparents.My family history is full of migrating and oscillating since Ming dynasty (around 1400s). They moved from north to south, across a couple of provinces. I start to ruminate over those photographs. What are the answers for us when we are displaced?

If there is a boundary in a physical land, is there a boundary that’s invisible? My family history may have made a trajectory that I could not really imagine, yet I always feel the process is subtle. By creating collages, cutting and tailoring photographs, I invite the audience to see the detachment, sense of belonging and reaffirmation through my lenses

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