One to Three Months, One to Two Weeks, Days or Hours, Minutes
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2018 / Edible plants, breath, zip bags, pins, graph paper / 129 x 56 x 1 1/2 in (328 x 142 x 4 cm) / Installation view from LeRoy Neiman Gallery, NY
Based on a hospice booklet about the dying process, a person’s timeline as they approach death is mapped out with their physical, emotional, and social shifts. To the subjects themselves, these shifts are subconsciously acknowledged, yet incomprehensible in real time. For the caretakers/observers to detect and anticipate these subtle changes, intense observational study becomes a crucial practice. In this work, each Vietnamese herb specimen is encapsulated with my own breath, where the action becomes a metaphor for resuscitation, yet the desperate effort itself expedites the process of decomposition. Accepting the inevitable and embracing each changing moment is the only thing left to do.