This New Light, 2023 (TNL23)

 

In 2022, I abruptly moved into someone else’s childhood home and struggled to adapt to its particular culture and lifestyle. The place as a whole tells layers of stories that one can feel both inside and outside. Our five senses are triggered by things that we are sometimes unaware of. Coming into this home, my new home, some objects – whether new or old to me – have spoken to me in a new light. In this project, I wanted to use as many resources directly around me as possible.

 

It starts off with my basic camera, the first and only DSLR that I’ve had for nearly a decade, the gracious invention of a 16” light box, and whatever matter that may surround my daily life. The objects are chosen nearby, telling a personal story that the subject might understand but the observer can openly visualize. The lack of context in these vignettes lets others focus on an object and its connections with the rest. But how do their colors reflect their story?

 

In This New Light, not only do I want to give others a personal look into my life as an adaptor to change in a new home, but a way to see color along with a sense of touch, hearing, smell, and taste. Why are these objects together? This project is one of my first sparks for Co Creative Co.’s movement toward art and freedom. Hopefully my skills will evolve with my work, but I just want a little bit of fun and distraction. There’s a blank background. Nothing else matters.

 

The polychromatic schemes and palettes are also part of that distraction. Suddenly, aspects of my daily life are simplified from their original, natural stance to a line of 4 colors, sometimes read as an identity for the visual composition and concept. In this process, the use of light stands for the perception of my new home in every scale one can imagine. By creating an unexpected showcase, I hope my work can help others see the unseen. But can it still ease the struggle of adaptation?