Thesis 2026/ Ranran Hu

This series of installation works marks both a continuation and a shift in my graduate practice. My previous works, such as Wandering Mind (2024), Windows (2024), and Walking from Home to the Airport(2025), explored how individuals perceive their own position in time and space through imagination, psychogeography and the subconscious. Observation has always served as a method, with images functioning as its primary medium. In this project, I have shifted this perception-based experience from two-dimensional images into a spatial structure that can be entered, placing viewers within the work itself. Thus, this series continues my research trajectory while representing a transition from image-based practice to spatial installation.

I constructed three wooden frames to transform the exhibition space into a relatively enclosed interior room, establishing a structure that the body can physically enter. The space contains multiple elements derived from different materials and interpretive processes: fabric wallpaper draws from patterns in my mom’s bedsheet that she always used since marriage, transformed through repetition into a visual surface that envelops the room; three paintings originate from long-term observation of light in my living space, capturing traces of sunlight and shadows cast through windows and blinds, transforming the seemingly stable yet constantly shifting light into paintings; the round dining table combines marble and glass, referencing traditional Chinese turntable dining alongside marble countertops common in American kitchens. It points to an everyday object never truly possessed; unfinished actions—such as a partially cut scallion or a computer in use—leftover moments of daily life. Without chairs, the table cannot be practically used. Objects no longer signify function but remain in a suspended state, neither begun nor completed. It points to a piece of furniture I have never truly owned during my moving journey, giving tangible form to the unease experienced within the context of family life and Sino-American culture; unfinished actions—such as a half-chopped scallion or a computer in use—freeze moments of daily life.

This red rose motif is inspired by the bedding my mother used for many years; it embodies love, lost memories, and violence. From a single pink rose to a vibrant red rose, and finally to a deep red rose that symbolizes maturity, I use different varieties of roses to represent the various stages of my mother’s life. I came into this world because of my parents’ love. I witnessed my mother’s life after marriage, and I am also the keeper of her memories from her time as a young girl before she was married. I witnessed countless arguments, fights, and heartbreaking scenes of domestic violence, observing my mother’s life through the eyes of a daughter.

These three light-and-shadow paintings are a tangible expression of my imagination, offering a haven from the turmoil of my life caused by frequent moves. They also represent the three essential spaces that make up a home: from front to back, and from open to private, they are the living room, the bathroom, and the bedroom. The viewer’s physical presence becomes essential. This space requires bodily movement: entering an internalized environment while remaining aware of their role as observer. This continues the method I employed in Walking from Home to the Airport(2025), where I interpreted surroundings and my own understanding through walking, filming, and observing. Here, the same method is embedded in a spatial context. In my current exhibition, since the window paintings are hung facing different directions, viewers are compelled to move around and turn to view them; thus, I have integrated the act of walking with that of viewing.

At the exit, a painting of a purple sky references a fleeting experience during a flight from America to China. As the plane ascended, the sky and clouds lost distinct layers, fading into a surreal purple hue and dissolving spatial references. In that moment, familiar structures of reality vanish, and the viewer enters a state suspended between reality and projection. This image produces a perceptual shift: viewers move from a concrete interior experience toward an uncertain spatial awareness, shifting attention from objects to their own positional experience.

My artistic practice engages in a dialogue with Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space, drawing particular inspiration from his focus on intimacy, reverie, and the emotional resonance of domestic spaces. My work is also deeply influenced by my dissociative identity disorder and personal experiences: a dissociative psychological experience has accompanied me since I was conscious, causing me to view everything “I” experience as an “other” from the perspective of a third party. Within this environment of extremely unstable attachment, I have shaped my perception of space and my imagination, using them to reestablish a sense of security and a connection to the world. I grew up during China’s Reform and Opening-Up era. My parents were migrant workers, and I spent six years of my childhood with my grandmother, belonging to the generation of “left-behind children” among the floating population. These experiences shaped my sense of displacement and my ability to rebuild a sense of security through imagination.

Website: https://ranranhu.com/

Instagram: ranran_hu_art