No man's land
Small work: 7 ½”x 7 ½” each
Combination of mineral pigment, water color, walnut ink, micro pigment pen, water-soluble wax crayon, and tea on paper*
(*different variations for each work)
Large work: 20”x 20” each
Mineral pigment on Japanese paper (kumohada mashi) over board
No man’s land series explores the space and dividing line between land and water, territories for new negotiation due to sea level rise in the future. I’m imagining the space where possible battles may occur between land and water—a middle ground for negotiation. The sea level is estimated to rise six feet by 2100. Many of the coastal lines will be quite different then. Much of Boston, and many other coastal towns, will be under water. At the time of creating this series, still ongoing Syrian war and migration crisis over the Mediterranean Sea dominated the media. The news also influenced some of the works in this series, especially when I learned that 3,770 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in 2015, according to the data on International Organization for Migration.
My works depict imaginary topographies created by drowning and submerging a paper in a tray filled with water that is mixed with tea and mineral pigment. The act of creating a storm surge in a tray by human hands—actually a very small act of tilting a tray back and forth—makes me think that any astronomical event could be a result of accumulation of small acts by individuals. Some of these works were faithfully copied to a larger scale of 20”x 20” from the original size of 7.5”x 7.5”.