ᨒ
Works from Aranya Winter Residency阿那亚冬季驻留创作, 2025
As late winter arrived, the snow at Jinshanling began to melt. My work started with an imagined landscape of snowy days, gradually expanding into a study and reconstruction of the mountains, paths, memories of villages, and traces of migration. I also imagined the past of this modern community—tracing back to its form as a village before it became what it is today. This curiosity stems from an instinctive sense of nostalgia for things that have disappeared.
Commissioned by Aranya Winter Residency Program, 2025
Unfocused Waters Under the Elm
榆树底的模糊水域
100 × 82 cm, 2025
Unfocused Waters Under the Elm imagines a distant migration related to water. From a village under the elm (Yushudi) in Weihai, Shandong, to Wudao Liang in Chengde, Hebei, villagers from the Kangxi period underwent a long escape from the coastline to the mountaintop.
The background for this route is a blurry photograph found on a place-name catalog website, taken from the site of the village's old dam (now the Valley Music Hall). The name "Yushudi" originates from a flood, where the few surviving villagers under a large elm tree decided to rename the village "Under the Great Elm Tree."
a memorial to a natural village
对一个自然村的纪念
110 × 82 cm, 2025
In the process of taking this photo, I used natural materials collected along the Great Wall to reconstruct the contour of villages from historical satellite images. With a wooden shovel, I cleared snow to form empty land, piled stones to mark lost houses, and lined broken pine needles into forgotten roads.
The Fourth Noon at Five Ridges
五道山岗的第四个中午
100 × 82 / 40 × 33 / 24 × 20 cm, 2025
The Fourth Noon at Five Ridges traces the evolving shape of snow ridges I carved over four days on the community lawn. Bai Chunxiang, a former villager, shared that "Wudao Liang" comes from the five ridges leading to the village.
After capturing an image of snow melted into a mountain-like form, I discovered a patch of snow on the artificial grass and, with a wooden shovel and scraper, reshaped it to mirror the five ridges. On the first day, traces of handwork were still visible on the replica. I returned on the second and fourth days around 1:20 PM, photographing how the ridges gradually softened into something more natural.
Best yet Longer
最佳步行路线 (但更远)
95 × 78 cm, 2025
Best yet Longer returns to the focus on the current community. Using memory as a guide, I drew a path in the sandpit from the room to the first cafeteria. It’s a longer route that loops around the community center, offering a richer landscape for walkers, while the shortest path is a road designed for vehicles.
Within Walking Distance
步行可达
2025
Within Walking Distance is a series of photographs taken in the Jinshanling community, focusing on small details in the landscape seen during everyday walks. Though plain and unobtrusive, they constantly remind me that this is a community in the mountains.
The phrase “within walking distance” is not meant to be practical here, but a way of being with the mountain: starting from body experience, walking becomes a means of exploring the place one inhabits.
Nao Nao's Discoveries
闹闹的发现
Portable DV Photography, 3:2 / 16:9,
Dimensions variable, 2025
Nao Nao, the oldest of the six or seven dogs raised by Lao Bai, became the perspective I imagined to capture many lighthearted photographs in the mountains, using a portable DV camera.