Chris Lin – Bye!

It seems I'm filming my life in order to have a life to film, like some primitive organism that somehow nourishes itself by devouring itself, growing as it diminishes. - Ross McElwee

I’ve got your memories / or has it got me? / I really don’t know / but I know / it won’t let me be. - Patsy Cline

We become spectators of our own lives. Sometime in the previous century, scientists theorized that memories are not fixed entities, but instead they are recontextualized and changed by the present moment. Therefore, each time we recall the past, the more detached we are from the actual event. The role of spectator allows us to be removed from the minutiae and nuances of everyday life, providing space for reassessment of values and reconciliation with the past.

Referencing personal narrative, I use themes of healing and catharsis in my studio practice. My work often begins as an objective examination of things that are absent from my life and followed by the mass production of surrogates for them, which helps to distract myself from the hardships of the day-to-day, including guilt, heartache, loneliness, and/or ear infections. This process induces moments of temporary happiness, which, in time, snowballs into a permanent fix.

I dig into my immediate past for much of the inspiration and source materials. Mementoes, films, narrative music, and aspects of my personal history that make me happy are sampled prominently or adopted as the style of my work. By referencing the familiar and exalting the ordinary, I facilitate an intimate and empathetic experience.