KA YAN SO
On My Way Home (2023)
Timber, scrap wood collected from pallets in Melbourne, fresh lily flowers, gourd charm, slippers and letters from Hong Kong, found objects from apartment, second hand objects, photographs, graphite on paper.
Dimensions variable.
On The Way Home presents a documentation of how Kelly processes her understanding of the intricate concept of home through the combination of drawings and installation. Based on her experiences in an unsettled living between Hong Kong and Australia, this project aims to investigate what ‘home’ truly represents, through the trace of memories and exploration of identity, to bring up a conversation of ‘home’ through art embodiment.
'Since humans have inhabited the Earth, they have marked their existence by building settlements. Everyone wants to be safe and prosperous, as an elementary prerequisite for forming structures for aggregation and activity - a place to call home.'
(Malmberg 2017)
This project undertakes an in-depth exploration of the intricate concept of 'home’. It aims to investigate what 'home' truly represents in the backdrop of my settling experience between Australia and Hong Kong. At the same time, psychoanalysis of cultural identity and human bonds will be explored through the discussion of ‘home’.
The project's origin can be traced back to the post-social protests in 2019 in Hong Kong, where the shifting political environment led to a collective yearning for stability and a sense of protection in one's living space, including myself. This desire for an uninterrupted 'home-space' triggered a migration wave. Regrettably, the migration left my struggle with the ephemerality of 'home'. The act of establishing a permanent space to reside with family, once a natural instinct, has become a formidable challenge after my migration overseas. This paradox of seeking for a new 'home' while constantly yearning for the past raises a fundamental question: What truly constitutes 'home'? Moreover, why does 'home' hold such profound significance for every individual?
The ongoing, lifelong quest for 'home' influences me to document all the ups-and-downs in my ‘home seeking’ journey in this artwork. While it is inevitable that we cannot halt the passage of time or the individual growth that often leads us away from our families, it remains essential to document the ever-changing emotions, and every memory encountered during this journey holds significance as fragments that contribute to finding my ‘home’.