Troubadouring
Variable dimensions
2022
Cotton cloth, ferns, rose petals, wooden picture frame, sulfuric acid paper, print photos, soil, wire
This work was created during the epidemic lockdown of 2022. It was a period where I intuitively sensed that the suppression of the modern human spirit had reached its peak, accompanied by a sense of helplessness and struggle against the fading vitality of life. The marginalized circumstances brought forth the manifestation of my spiritual identity, akin to an observer wandering through the world. In this tranquil despair, I distilled an abstract ambiance, capturing the essence of this state of mentality—a confusion of a troubadour in the quiet depths of desolation.
I constructed an altar for self-pilgrimage adorned with concealed memories and the inescapable reality. The suspended ‘chandelier’ represents a spiritual entity being controlled and banished, struggling to light the flames with nourishment from the soul.
Troubadouring II presents the vulnerability of human spirits, also revealing their self-faith, together they craft the materials of prayer. The fragility of the spirit is not a shameful relic of times to be concealed, but rather a crack deserving acknowledgment, contemplation, and a redefinition beneath the smooth facade woven by the era.
By employing the method of Plant Dyeing, my intention is to impart an additional layer of tonality to the artwork, specifically engaging in a parallel discourse about the human spiritual identity within nature. I am particularly focused on exploring the attributes of the subjects as natural entities, acknowledging their growth, withering, and decay in civilized society much like organisms in the natural world.
The form of the "altar" suggests that the behavior is an exaggerated means of self-affirmation born out of a sense of ambiguity and detachment from self-cognition, that is, "the pilgrimage of the self."
As the young poet in Sayat Nova finds himself in a state of semi-conscious state, gradually drifting towards an unfamiliar and distant self. The childhood photo as a visual re-enactment of the past is shrouded in shadow at this moment, becoming an unreachable and avoidable memory; the mirror is placed in the position of the pilgrimage, which is a continual confirmation of the self image, but also the clear fact that must be faced constantly.
The imagery of the ‘chandelier’ symbolizes the metaphorical representation of an individual's spiritual identity in society. I sense that the human spirit is left hanging, lighting the flames with nourishment from the soul in adversity.
