Ting Ying Han

The traumatic experience of disconnecting with my family as a young adult explains my sensitive responses to relationships and physical spaces. At age 20 I left my homeland Taiwan and began my constant search for cultural integration and adaptation. Being transplanted into different countries introduces new sets of philosophies and de-structures all previous understandings of identity and community. The act of transplanting changes the physical borders between spaces, as well as the psychological and emotional conditions within them.

My primary media are video performance, installation and projected images. My installations introduce alterations to common architectural spaces, and the fragmented sites are psychologically rendered into non-sites, non-buildings, and non-places. They exist at the intersection of physical transit and mental displacement. This is the essence of my content. The works are an exploration of the malleability of these identities, and how individual perception influences what is accepted as truth. During performances, I employ my body as a core element. The repetitive bodily actions and my unconscious response to the environments lead me into ritualized conduct. The displacement of traditional sculptural artifacts and objects speaks to the emotional and psychological response to the Self, and reflects identity.

Currently, I am interested in the psychological response to existence, consciousness, and physical space in relation to domestic objects/ space. More specifically I am attempting to convey the sense or absence of “home”, while emphasizing the source, or essence of “home”. The idea of the home is a universal one that everyone shares; but at the same time, each individual’s idea carries its own degree of pain and comfort. Similarly, the dialogue created between logical human emotions and familiar environments of domesticity also intrigues me: how individual perception influences what is accepted as truth.