Raised in a mythical land occupied for nearly 50 years by a repressive dictatorship, where laws covered up beauty and life. Their actions were rooted in hate, killing, and the denial of freedom. Despite immense government pressure, I lived in a place full of grace. At every stage, I fought for basics but remained full of love and intimacy. The people I grew up with lived as freely as they could. We learned love and life beneath the surface of sadness. This land shaped my being, life, and memories.

Diving into an unknown shore was part of survival in a worsening situation. The youth faced economic and cultural chaos, and immigration became a choice that could make us fall out and drown. Some chose to stay, knowing they would sink.

Suddenly detached from my hometown, I opened my eyes to a place that felt like someone else’s life. In a land of freedom, I felt the same: free where I wasn’t, now confined in liberation. Ever wonder what it’s like to drown? The water whispers, calling softly. I dove to see but found my lifeless body on a shore—barely able to move, but remembering the snow-covered mountain, with no one around but love.

-Lov- is about remembering. Migration’s detachment, the pain of leaving behind everything that created me. My past appears grainy and blurred. If a land is a mirage, then I, too, must be one.

I attempt to recreate my brain’s archive of memories in a different landscape, rearranging fragments like writing in the language of fractured remembrance.

• 2025 SPRING MFA THESIS EXHIBITION