Digging a hole on the beach, hoping to reach the sea. Those who’ve tried it know it’s all about balance: too high, and the sea remains out of reach; too low, and the waves will destroy your work in moments. This playful yet complex act perfectly encapsulates the artistic approach of Alison Chen, who persists in this gesture, whether on the beach with her children or through her daily artistic practice.
Digging toward water—a powerful symbol tied to our origins—echoes in Alison’s work as an exploration of family and intergenerational connections. Born in New York and now living in Los Angeles, Alison Chen is part of the second generation of immigrants. For her, water holds a contradiction: it separates her by an ocean from her roots and her history, yet it also allows her to write her own story. Water, the source of life, symbolizes the vital bond between a mother and the child growing inside her.
In this exhibition, curated by Zhou Yichen and Gan Yingying, Alison Chen documents her intimate and emotional journey in this search for identity. Experiencing motherhood herself, she seeks to understand what it means to be a mother while re-evaluating the influence of intergenerational relationships that connect her to the women in her family.
To do this, she delves into family archives and the histories of those who have taken on the role of mother. Photos, frames, silhouettes, jewelry, clothing—objects Alison Chen has preserved. She re-photographs them, interprets them, and interacts with them, layering photographs and videos in an attempt to bridge the past and the present, to heal the traumas of previous generations and her own.
This approach is reflected in “Family Jewels,” a photograph of her daughter’s hand adorned with several family rings. Too heavy for her, the child’s hand droops under the weight of the jewelry, symbolizing both the burden of the past and the hope for transformation through creative expression.
“I Hope You Feel the Sun on Your Wings” is a video installation created using frames that once decorated the staircase walls of her grandparents’ home, proudly displaying the faces of children and grandchildren. After her grandparents passed, Alison salvaged these empty frames, which were destined for the trash. A video of birds projected onto one of the frames directly evokes her grandmother’s passion for music and recalls the birds she kept, whose songs filled her home. Complementary images of waves and rustling trees are added, offering a form of meditation and solace, honoring her grandmother, whom Alison hopes has found peace after a life marked by hardship—the loss of her mother during the Japanese Occupation, mental health struggles, and illnesses ranging from bipolar disorder to Alzheimer’s.
On the wall beside it hangs a photograph of her grandmother at age 20, titled “If she could talk, she would sing.” Alison projects a video of her hand gently caressing the young woman’s face, a gesture imbued with tenderness and compassion.
In the second room, a striking mural piece is composed solely of the eyes of the women in her family—those of her daughter, her aunt, her mother, her grandmother, and her own. All remarkably similar, these eyes are connected by threads, forming symbolic constellations and weaving a network of connections. In doing so, Alison seeks to recreate the feeling one experiences when gazing at a star-filled sky: a sense of orientation and belonging.
Thus, in Alison Chen’s work, the act of creation itself becomes an act of healing. A performative quest through which the artist attempts to reconnect with her history and mend the emotional wounds she has inherited—a sensitive and deeply moving endeavor with universal resonance.
Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival 2024
Jimei Art Centre
Bullding 12, XInglinwan Business Contro, Jimoi District, Xiamen
www.rencontres-arles.com/fr/jimei-x-arles-2024international-photo-festival
Three Shadows Photography Art Centre
3F, Bullding 2, Xinglinwan Business
Contro, Jimei District, Xiamen
www.threeshadows.cn/cn
