Live Free or Die？

Creation Time: 2024 Size: 250x160x120cm Material: Foam, wooden board, aluminum foil

Migration itself is like a piece of soil being moved; it carries with it the roots and seeds of its mother culture. In a new cultural environment, unpredictable changes can occur. It might grow wildly like an invasive plant or wither away due to the inability to adapt to the new environment. However, once a seed is planted, change begins.

I created this piece because of my recent attention to the group of illegal Chinese migrants. Their journey is fraught with great risk and uncertainty, yet many families in China, including some from the middle class, are willing to abandon everything and take on these risks to migrate illegally. I believe they are trapped in the information bubbles created by the internet and the illusions woven by unscrupulous immigration agents, leading to an inaccurate and incomplete understanding of the dreams and actual difficulties of migration. I was particularly moved by a recent news report of eight migrants who drowned off the coast of Mexico before realizing their dreams, similar to the Little Mermaid whose dream of love ultimately turned into mere foam. Based on this association, I used foam as a material to create this piece, expressing the fragility and insignificance of life. At the same time, I believe that those who have chosen this path should muster the courage to embrace hope, adapt to their current environment, and bloom through hard work, growing the spirit of freedom from the wounds of their struggles.