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SELF-DISCOVERY 創作自述

Being an immigrant, my life is the journey of self-discovery, and I sometimes immage myself as a piece of driftwood or a waterfowl floating on the water or resting on the shore.  In 2008, I immigrated to Vancouver from Taiwan and began the journey of drifting. The beautiful birds and trees of surrounding neighborhoods enchanted me, but the four seasons conjured a strange nostalgia in me. The imagery that comes to mind is of loneliness and of drifting along to new worlds.

 

In 2015, I visited Iona Beach, on Sea Island near YVR Airport where I landed as a new immigrant in Canada. At Iona, the ocean waves constantly carry driftwood to and from the shoreline as the planes landing and departing,and different waterfows come and go alone with different seasons. The numerous pieces of driftwood and waterfowls made me wonder about their origins and their stories before they arrived here from faraway places. Driftwood and birds led me to a journey of self-discovery and evoked different perspectives in my artwork. 

 

Since the discovery of driftwood and migrate-birds, I frequently visit Iona Beach, lakes and elsewhere on the coast of British Columbia to sketch them. Also, I’ve begun a contemporary art project on driftwood and waterfowls in my Chinese brush ink painting practice. Various shapes driftwood and different birds are abundant the waterways: the metaphor for my own and other immigrants’ transitory experience. 


The artwork reveal my feeling as an immigrant with homesick and loneliness during that phase. After I went through the tough period, I realized I can integrate into the new environment. I feel very fortunate and I really enjoy the seasonal beauty of Canada, the harmony among different people, as well as between people and nature.

 

如果生命是一段旅程,我的旅程不是渡假而是漂泊。漂泊讓我看見不同的風景,讓我在孤獨中與內心對話。漂泊的歳月裡,家郷越來越模糊、日子越來越孤獨,我是誰?為何在這裡?


在太平洋彼端 ‒ 當初登陸的海灘, 我遇見自己。一塊漂流木進入我的人生,改變了我的思維和我的創作。來到陌生的國度, 不同季節的水禽與候鳥是最我們美好的相遇。我不斷地探索,於是發現更多自己的故事都在大自然裡。

海灘、湖邊、河岸是我的工作場, 寫下四季的容顏, 也記錄著生命的故事。漸漸地, 我深愛這塊土地, 我已是大自然的一部分。

 

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