The sea exiles us, yet we search for a new world on its will.
The Ominous Seascape is an exploration of the representation of physicality through the interplay of text and image. This body of work is situated within the space between the intellectual and the emotional, the political and the personal, offering a narrative that invites contemplation and introspection.
Inspired by my daily commute on the ferry between Hong Kong and Cheung Chau, the primary visual subject of the seascape offers an abstract form for the search for personal and societal progress. Through pairing text excerpts from The Stranger by Albert Camus with experimental images, The Ominous Seascape constructs a narrative that challenges the viewer to contemplate the relationship between the individual and power.
My personal journey is a central theme of the work, with the sea symbolising the search for a future self. The deep personal connection to the subject matter is evident in the colourful imagery, which exudes a sense of powerlessness and panic, evoking an emotional response.
Under the framework of image-text practice, The Ominous Seascape challenges the role of memory in the present, using the subversive and echoing natures of image-text artwork to explore the nostalgic state of mind and imagine the future based on wishful thinking. Through the manipulation of the present, I seek to find the beacon of the future that invites contemplation and reflection.
