Video Works
Free as Birds I (2024-ongoing)
Photography, Sound, Video 6:54
Free as Birds is an interdisciplinary project that parallels the disrupted journeys of migratory birds and immigrants amidst global deforestation and increasingly restrictive immigration policies. Through performative video, photography, and sonic vocal experimentation, the project explores themes of displacement, adaptation, and the search for home.
Recent years have seen natural ecosystems and human migration patterns increasingly destabilized—birds lose their habitats to deforestation, while immigrants face tightened borders. Inspired by this shared fragility, I imagined myself as a bird freely crossing borders, wearing wings crafted from fragmented maps of Asia and Europe. These wings symbolize fractured identities and the barriers that hinder free movement. On a Finnish island, I performed scenes set against natural backdrops: gazing at nests in trees, tracing water pathways guided by moonlight and stars, dancing with birds, and finally confronting the border—the stark divide between the freedom of birds and the restrictions imposed on human migration.
The project’s sonic and vocal components explore the intersections of language, migration, and identity. Using field recordings from Helsinki immigration offices—disjointed announcements struggling to pronounce diverse immigrant names—alongside the rhythmic sounds of railways, airplanes, and circling birds, I created a layered auditory landscape. Traditional folk songs about migration and home from China and Europe became the foundation for lyrical exploration. Using AI language models, I translated these songs into bird-like vocal structures, echoing the mechanical and repetitive efforts of technology to understand complex human themes. The melodies, infused with elements of Finnish vocalization—a language I am learning as an immigrant—were performed alongside these field recordings. The slow, deliberate process of mastering this “new bird language” mirrors the immigrant experience of adapting to unfamiliar environments.
Stills and Installation View for Performance at YÖ Galleria, Helsinki, 2024
Hymn to Kalbe (2024)
Photography, Sound, Video 6:54
Hymn to Kalbe (2024) is a photo-video project I developed during my artist residency at Künstlerstadt Kalbe, located in a remote town in East Germany marked by decay due to population aging, death, and outward migration. In the evenings, flocks of crows fill the sky, circling the graveyard—a stark symbol of the town's decline.
However, amidst this backdrop, I encountered a group of residents who had chosen to move to Kalbe and make it their home. These individuals included refugees fleeing war, sociologists enriching the town with art, and retirees finding peace in Kalbe's tranquility, calling Kalbe their new home.
I invited these residents to participate in a portrait session, and at the conclusion of my residency, I projected their images onto one of the many abandoned houses in the town, symbolizing their role in bringing new life and light to Kalbe.
The video’s soundtrack is a composition I created from the first improvisation of the artist residency, I invited German cellist Isabel to create a dialogue between human voice and cello. It also includes a love letter to Kalbe, read by a resident who has come to call the town home.
Through this combination of video, music, and photography, I aim to pay homage to Kalbe and its resilient inhabitants, celebrating the light they bring to the town’s deserted homes.
Fireworks, Volcano, Reykjavík (2024)
Video, Sound Art 3:02
Fireworks, Volcano, Reykjavík (2024) is a video-sound-performance art piece created during my SIM Residency in December 2023 in Reykjavík, Iceland. The work is rooted in the events surrounding the eruption of the Sundhnúkur volcano, which devastated the town of Grindavík, displacing many local residents. Against this backdrop of destruction and loss, the people of Reykjavík gathered at the cathedral on New Year's Eve for their traditional, exuberant firework celebration.
The video captures the emotional tension and contrast between the sorrow of losing one's home and the collective joy of welcoming a new year. It explores themes of loss, renewal, loneliness, and communal solidarity.
Visually, the piece is a montage of footage documenting me spinning in various locations across Iceland, symbolizing the upward surge of both fireworks and volcanic eruptions. The spinning motion reflects the chaotic yet mesmerizing energy of these explosive forces, blurring the lines between natural disaster and human celebration.
The music piece is a blend of field recordings, news broadcasts detailing the tragic losses caused by the volcanic eruption, and my own voice, wordlessly singing. The soundscape mirrors the eruption’s process, starting from a quiet, lonely stillness, building into a crescendo of sound that echoes the violent energy of the eruption, and then gradually fading back into solitude, even amidst the noise of the crowd.
"Fireworks, Volcano, Reykjavík" is about the delicate balance between devastation and hope, solitude and community, within the context of a momentous cultural and natural event.