About me
I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Visual Studies program of University of California, Santa Cruz, working in the field of contemporary art and independent cinema. My current research focuses on contemporary visual practices oriented towards Asian borderwaters, looking at the decolonizing potential of the haptic visuality, intimacy, and care enacted in these practices. Many of my writings explore the intersection of aesthetics, affect, and politics, especially in the context of Hong Kong and in relation to the thematic of migration.
My academic journey is partially supported by various fellowships, including UCSC's Regents Fellowship, the Arts Research Institute's Fellowship, the Center for Southeast Asian Coastal Interactions's Junior Scholars program etc. I am the convener and coordinator of UCSC's “Media Practices across Global Asias” research cluster.
Before joining UCSC and moving to the US, I was an art critic, researcher, cultural program host, and lecturer based in Hong Kong. As an art critic, I received the "Hong Kong Art Development Awards - Award for Young Artist" and was shortlisted in the International Awards for Art Criticism. I also co-authored the book Farmers' Horizon: Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, Urban x Rural, Japan x Hong Kong (2016), which was part of a larger art and agricultural project sponsored by the C.C. Wu Cultural and Education Foundation.
Other notable projects include "Literature Night" (literature talk show produced by RTHK31), "As Time Folds" (exhibition), "Talkover/Handover 2.0" (research project and exhibition). I was also part of the pro-democracy cultural pressure group "Articipants" and ran for the Election for the Chief Executive Election Committee in 2016.
Research Projects
Intimate Seas: Displacement and Radical Relationality in Post-2010 Hydromedia from Asia
My dissertation examines how contemporary Asian artists and filmmakers engage borderwaters and seascapes to reframe global migrant and refugee images. Unlike sensationalized media portrayals of refugees as passive victims, these moving image works foreground the lifeworlds, memories, and relational intimacies of displaced groups across Asia. The project situates multiple modes of displacement within global colonial and imperial histories and explores how the artworks conjure minor imaginaries of belonging, offering alternative models of community and responsibility in an increasingly xenophobic world.
Publications
Explore my recent publications, including longform essays for artists' monographs and exhibition catalogs, commissioned by institutions such as M+ (Hong Kong) and Asian Art Museum (San Francisco).
