SoilSandSelfie Project
Sandbox Project is inspired by my research of the aggregated soil as a metaphor for the clustered fragments of physical and virtual lives, I construct collaborative and performative experiences that explore the composite experience of encountering non-native cultures in a foreign land through the eyes of an immigrant. I use plastic stencils and excavated local soils to form phrases on the ground. The texts are culled from overheard conversations, message chats, and online comments.
My performing role as a typical Chinese tourist with exaggerated enthusiasm, will not only invite others to join the process of text-forming but more importantly, open up conversations about the divided experience and stereotypes the “other” may experience through language, attitudes, and social norms in a foreign land. Looking upwards to take the selfie together, we will observe a tiny mirrored image of ourselves, framed by the landscape, surrounded by the sky above.
Xinan (Helen) Ran
SoilSandSelfie Project, Chinatown, Performance, 2022-ongoing
SoilSandSelfie Project, Chinatown, Performance, 2022-ongoing
SoilSandSelfie Project, Coney Island, Performance, 2022-ongoing
SoilSandSelfie Project, Governor's Island, Performance, 2022-ongoing
SoilSandSelfie Project, Governor's Island, Performance, 2022-ongoing
SoilSandSelfie Project, Prospect Park, Performance, 2022-ongoing
Xinan (Helen) Ran
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www.xinanran.work
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helen_zeta@hotmail.com
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Exodus is a recurring theme in my work. The transitory upbringing forms the underbelly of my practice. I seek alternative applications for materials and cultural symbols. I sew, draw and assemble them into portable and collaged installations. This process allows my subconscious to free associate images and fragments of text to form new abstract narratives. Like a rosary carried in the pocket of an immigrant crossing the border, I am drawn by how everyday objects can serve as talismans, reminding us of the places we leave behind. However, rather than replicating “authentic” memories, I construct emotional and transient landscapes through fabricated ephemera, echoing memories of departed homelands that never existed. Absurdity is extremely important in my work. My bright colors and playful use of materials mask underlying anxiety through a seeming lightheartedness. I am interested in the point where trauma, nihilism and humor converge.
Xinan (Helen) Ran was born in Yakeshi, China, and lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is a Hunter College MFA candidate and received her BFA from Pratt Institute (2017). Apart from her studio practices, Xinan is an art educator and an aspirational set designer for new theaters. In her material exploration of the painting medium, Ran is unlearning her worship towards “art supplies”. She started to explore links between habit and ritual in municipal life that are reshaped by small-scale manufacturing. Ran searches for a switch to turn on metaphors of everyday life - and shine new light - pointed at “tools” as the means of cultural production and as allegory. Ran then asks for changes that could be made after the communal discoveries. Her work spills over from the discussion of the artwork to a sharing of language, space, and skills - memories, experiences, and emotions.