Projects
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The Letter I Could Never  Send

In A Letter I Could Never Send, I trace the lives of three generations of women in my family—my grandmother, my mother, and myself—to examine how women’s lives are shaped by patriarchal structures within both the family and society.

The project began with my observations of my grandmother’s life in old age. She worked as a teacher when she was young and now receives a retirement pension. More importantly, because she gave birth to a son, she is cared for by my father in her later years and lives with our family. In traditional Chinese filial piety culture, the eldest son is expected to support his parents in old age.

My mother quit her job after giving birth and became a full-time housewife. Since then, she has been financially dependent, lost her voice within the family, and taken on the heavy labor of caring for everyone. However, her work remains largely unrecognized.

As part of the next generation, I am now at an age when marriage and reproduction are expected. Economic pressure, social expectations, and the fear of repeating the lives of my mother or grandmother have created a deep sense of uncertainty about the future for me and many women of my generation.

Throughout the process of working on this project, many questions kept floating in my mind: If my grandmother had not had a son, what would her later years have been like? If my mother had not become a housewife, would her life have had more possibilities? Would she have been happier? If I choose not to marry or have children, or if I leave my hometown, who will take care of my parents when they grow old? Will they blame me? What will my own later life look like?These questions may never have clear answers, but they continue to shape the lives of women in China, generation after generation.






An Ordinary Wish

 
This series attempts to capture the hidden corners of queer life in China—spaces where vulnerability and self-discovery coexist. At the same time, the process of making this work is also part of my own exploration of gender identity.

My encounter with this community began in Canton’s ballroom scene. For the first time, I felt a strong sense of connection and belonging within a community. However, when the ballroom ended and everyone returned to their everyday lives, I felt a sharp sense of separation,a contrast between the freedom and support of the ballroom and the realities beyond it.

The images capture moments of intimacy,desire, struggle, courage, fear, and hope. The people I photograph are ordinary people, like countless others still exploring and understanding their identities. Yet even our existence is often misunderstood, unaccepted, and, in some places, treated as illegal.




Dear Ballroom,
Thank you.

 Canton Ballroom Scene
(2023-2026 )


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