Country within Country / Dream within Dream
graphite on wall, dimensions variable, 2024
国 — country / 梦 — dream (simplified Chinese)
中 — within
國 — country / 夢 — dream (traditional Chinese)
typeface — Yu Mincho (Japanese)
1.
Country within Country, graphite on wall, 15 × 30 feet, 2024
2.
Country within Country, graphite on wall (detail view)
3.
2024 Parsons MFA Photography Thesis Exhibition, Country within Country and Maintain Status Quo Indefinitely
4.
Top: Dream within Dream, graphite on wall, 14 1/2 × 11 1/2 feet, 2025
exhibited in After/Images, two-person exhibition at Black Brick Project, New York
exhibited in After/Images, two-person exhibition at Black Brick Project, New York
5.
Untitled, graphite on paper, 7 × 8 3/4 inches, 2025
6.
Left: Untitled, graphite on paper, 7 × 8 3/4 inches, 2025
Right: part of the installation Dream within Dream
Right: part of the installation Dream within Dream
AL: These works are incredibly nuanced but the artwork captions in the exhibition were brief. Who is or was your intended audience? How did you contextualize it in a New York setting?
WW: When working with languages other than English in the US, there’s always the challenge of deciding whether or not to translate for audiences to better understand the work. In my thesis presentation, I chose not to provide the service of translation for the New York setting because the nuances between traditional and simplified Chinese are central to the work—they are the work itself. By deciding not to translate, I am placing trust in the audience, believing that those intrigued will either figure out the translation on their own or through my brief, almost dictionary-like captions.
I am delving into the visual qualities of language, spotlighting Chinese characters as either compound ideographs or indicatives, both of which incorporate pictorial elements in their structure.
臺 台
國 国
and later edited to
国 中 國
梦 中 夢
photos by Kuan Hsieh (1–3)
and farfar studio (4–6)