Yitong (Dawn) Guo

The multi-media installation “梦回故里(Meng Hui Gu Li)” is a visual representation of my contemplation of home. The multi-media installation combines past and present photos to evoke feelings of nostalgia and employs surrealist techniques and ideas to answer the philosophical question of whether we can ever truly return home. The moving image includes photographs taken in the past and photos that I directed my parents to take in the present, as well as recordings of familial sounds that I once considered the true representation of home. Together, they try to retrace the steps into my dreamscape. However, these intimate and ephemeral images are cut, blown up, and reduced to a mere fraction of what this word represents. Therefore, the dream depicted in this piece can be perceived as a funeral ceremony to pay homage to a place that once was, but can never be again.

Dawn is a Chinese visual artist and photographer. Born in Harbin, she uses photography and other visual media to reflect on her cultural legacy and offers a vivid testimony of cultural transmission.