Breathing in this Mirage (2025) is my first installation, developed during the SVA Artist Residency in New York. This work was inspired by the plants which I saw on the streets of Manhattan. I observed how they thrived amid the city’s light and noise—crowded, diverse, and vibrant, all striving to grow in narrow urban spaces, much like the people from around the world sharing the limited space of this city.

Inspired by the Tao Te Ching, the classic Taoist text that says, “too many colors blind the eye,” I responded to this dazzlingly colorful city with a monochromatic image. Combining traditional Chinese freehand brushwork with the visual language of black-and-white photography, I painted the plants in ink on silk from bottom to top, as if they were growing. The silk was suspended to flow with the wind, and Aluminum-coated paper on the floor projected light across the room, moving like tides with the silk’s gentle motion.

The installation created a mirage in which the center contained real life. Viewers were invited to enter and experience the work fully. The space became an immersive dialogue between the viewer, the plants, and the city, blurring the boundary between real life and the ephemeral illusions of light and movement.