A mortal flower

In 2012, while living in Beijing, I became aware of one of the major causes of the city’s winter pollution. Beyond the industrial emissions commonly associated with it, a significant factor was the widespread use of fossil coal for domestic heating. The coal, extracted from the Mongolian mines near the Chinese border, was distributed manually to households at the beginning of each winter.
During this period, I encountered fossil coal as a material for the first time. Its texture, density, and weight prompted me to explore its sculptural potential within my ongoing practice.
Fossil coal is a highly toxic substance, known for its carcinogenic properties, and has been prohibited as a domestic fuel in many countries. In this project, it became both a material and a trace of a broader social and ecological context.

A study for a sculptural installation formed by hand-carved pieces of fossil coal — an attempt to release a star from within the matter

The project takes its title, A Mortal Flower, from the book by Han Suyin, which I found in the place where I was living in Beijing, left behind by someone before me. The book’s reflections on transformation, impermanence, and the intimate relationship between human lives and historical forces resonated deeply with the work. Like Suyin’s narrative, the project moves between endurance and fragility — tracing the gestures of survival, memory, and renewal within a landscape shaped by material and temporal decay..