Open Home Project
I’m Jiayi Liang, a lens-based visual artist. Over the past few years, I’ve been using art as a way to heal from my body trauma. Last year, I began a project called "The Long Season," where I transformed photographs of myself into paper cutouts. By reconstructing images and utilizing space, I discussed how women’s bodies have been eroded by the patriarchal society, and explored the construction of shelter and care. The Long Season, beyond being a reflection of my body trauma experience, serves as a cathartic way for me to hold onto hope during difficult times. Please find more info about this project here: jiayiliangart.com/Installation
This fall, I'm moving to Richmond, VA for my graduate studies, which will be my first time living on the East Coast. As the next stage of "The Long Season," I'm starting a collaborative project called "Open Home" with different groups of women. I'll be asking participants to open their homes and engage in creating art, fostering an act of trust with different groups of women or happen with folks who identify as women. So, dear friend/stranger, may I have the honor of coming to your home to make photos?
In the "Open Home" project, participants will choose a specific area in their home presented without staging for the photoshoot. I'll bring along my paper cutout props to create images in their space. Participants are also welcome to join in the photos, becoming a part of the photograph. As a thank you, they will receive a photo taken in their homes in return.
As a woman, an international student, and a survivor of body trauma, home for me is a fluid and ever-evolving concept, shaped by my identity, experiences, relationships, and the places I inhabit along my journey of personal and academic growth. Home is also a synonym of safe space and shelter.
In this experimental project of collaboration, I am also trying to sort out the questions: how can we define our safe spaces and empower our bodies in a patriarchal society? In these chaotic times, how can we use creative collaboration to embrace our differences in race, identity, gender, and sexuality to build mutual trust and support?
Through the "Open Home" project, I hope to connect with a community of other women to create spaces of shelter and foster a sense of belonging. By connecting beyond the boundaries of ethnicity, society, and culture, we hope to embrace our vulnerability, and reshape and celebrate our self-identification. This project is my path to finding belonging and connection in an unfamiliar city, and I invite you to join me. Through collaboration and empowering creation, we can narrate through visual language, break boundaries, and ignite transformative conversations that reinforce our sense of belonging and unity.
I want to Join:
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Contact: oh.coproject@gmail.com
Follow us on Instagram: @oh.coproject
Contact: oh.coproject@gmail.com
Follow us on Instagram: @oh.coproject