Stone Over Stone

Chicago,2023


This work originated from a paradoxical discovery. While attempting to preserve plants on paper using cyanotype, I realized these so-called "natural creations" were fundamentally acts of human violence against nature. This compelled me to pause the project and reconsider humanity's relationship with the natural world.

Stones became the new medium of dialogue—each bears a printed image of itself. This seemingly futile act exposes humanity's paradox: we seek to conquer nature (through cities, defending against disasters) while exploiting its bounty (like domesticated animals). Why document stones when you already see them in person? Stones on Stones embodies my challenge to nature: returning altered stones to the wild. While the photographs will fade eventually, the stones may outlast human civilization. This confrontation reminds us that the notion of "controlling nature" is ultimately illusory. Art serves as humanity's way to comprehend the world, yet for nature, a stone's fragmentation and regeneration are merely mundane moments in its billion-year existence.

To further this dialogue, take a stone, treat it as an "artwork," or return it to nature. Those reintegrated into landscapes will gradually shed the traces of the human touch through elemental erosion, while others remain confined in galleries. Currently, some stones have rejoined riverbeds and forests across the US, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Mainland China, and Hong Kong. Their ultimate fate will be determined by time and nature itself.