A Goat in Blue, 2018

Born and raised in a nuclear seaside city in southern China, I have witnessed the transformative power of human activity on the natural world. As my hometown embraced nuclear industries and tourism prior to the turn of the millennium, it became one of the foremost hubs of such activity in the region. However, this rapid development has had a profound impact on the environment, with industrial waste, pollution, and indiscriminate disposal of trash and debris taking a significant toll on the natural landscape.

It was during a chance encounter with a goat foraging on a seaside cliff that I was prompted to reflect on the relationship between humans and nature in the Anthropocene epoch. As a creature that once inhabited the natural world, the goat's presence among the tourists was seen as an "intrusion," highlighting the growing divide between humanity and nature. This encounter inspired me to embark on a week-long field trip in the seaside area, where I followed a local fisherman through uncharted territory, listening to his narration of the ecological changes wrought by human activity.

Through my photographic work entitled A Goat in Blue, I sought to explore the complex relationship between humanity and nature in the Anthropocene epoch. The images of discarded glass, rusted metals, polluted water, and industrial foams served as a powerful visual reminder of the deleterious impact of human activity on the natural world.

In creating A Goat in Blue, I sought to overlay and double-exposure these images with those of the goat, constructing new visual orders and dimensions. By superimposing these disparate elements, I aimed to reimagine the goat within an artificial visual realm, creating a new perspective on the relationship between humans and nature. The result is a series of surreal, dream-like images that challenge our assumptions about the natural world and our place within it.

Through my artistic practice, I sought to construct imaginary pictures of nature and human life coexisting, in search of a future blueprint for human development and natural life to coexist in harmony in the Anthropocene epoch.