“When the lockdown began it was still cold and the road downstairs was still bare and greyish-yellow. With sunny days and rains taking turns, with the whole spring fading in silence, I witnessedthe sycamores outside my window growing from bud to bloom and the direct daylight deflecting ata specific angle each day in strict accordance with the routines of the earth’s rotation. The animalsand plants that had nothing to do with this human business got a blessing in disguise, enjoying twomonths of freedom.Our finite life is but a particle carried by inertia in a grand curve of values,floatingand sinking. Real examples which fit in the metaphor of a grain of ash and a mountain have aboundedthose two months. Slogans cannot instantly erase the trauma of this twomonth lockdown; the pain will remain in the collective memory for a long time and will be passed on from generation to generation. But it is still important to live in the concrete present and to feel concrete feelings for concrete people. To breathe, to walk, to date, to hug, to kiss, to enjoy the sunshine, to listen to the leaves, to talk face to face, to look directly into the eyes of those around me. The whole environment is not something I can change on my own, but the best resistance will be me keeping my physical and mental health.”
Shi Yilin. Born in 1995, Changzhou, Jiangsu. Graduated from School of Humanities of Central Academy of Fine Arts and Photography course of Royal College of Art. Her photographic practicefocuses on the relationship between individuals and the context. Using metaphorical visual language to capture the extraordinary moments beyond the ordinary, she attempts to explore the essence of existence through appearances. Her works have been exhibited at the Three Shadows PhotographyArt Centre and the Saatchi Gallery in London. She currently lives and works in Shanghai.
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