My Secret Golden Flower
2025
Watercolour paper, hand cut, acrylic, gold leaf on pinewood panels
200 x 60cm each, 6 units
animation projection: 27:25 mins

When my great-grandmother died, grandma told me that she vanished from our sight to become immortal. She now lives on air and water. She has no troubled mind, can fly, and is untouchable.

When my grandma died, I prayed for her to become immortal. I sought to understand where the primal spirit transcends. Death is merely a natural part of the cycle of transformation.

I created a ritual ceremony for grandma’s afterlife – her heart departs from the body to become spiritual. The waterwheel flows backward so that she is nourished. Her consciousness, larger than a real-life brain, occupies the space.

Enlightened eyes look both inward and outward. The sun sank. Eucalyptus trees grew from the valley. The light of body-opening illuminated the deep valley through the trees. A new life has begun.

My Secret Golden Flower was created for ‘Within Heaven and Earth’ exhibition. 

Within Heaven and Earth
Fairfield City Museum & Gallery
15 March – 28 June 2025

In search of renewal and healing, the artists in Within Heaven and Earth share a multi-dimensionality of storytelling to explore personal identity and cultural memory.

Written response by Tian Zhang.

Music response by Andrew Zhou. To listen click here