M.F.A. Visual Thesis

Chinese-ness: The State of Being Chinese


Part One: 和谐 (He Xie: Harmony)
In the contemporary China, a new slogan of the Chinese Communist Party, “building a harmonious society” is considered, by the citizens, to mean “being censored.” On the images, obstructing people’s faces addresses a different form of censorship within Chinese society. By showing the variations of censored images, the piece encourages the viewer to contemplate the ambiguity within contemporary Chinese society.


Part 2: Chinese-ness: The State of Being Chinese.
All images are collected from the establishment of the People’s Republic of China until the end of the Mao era. By adding elements, removing figures, and color correcting the original images to create the new narrative based upon the original messages. Positioning each individual piece in relation to one another to create a conversation among the images and reveal the state of being Chinese.


Printed on silk. Wood frame. Installation. 24 x 33 inch/each.