海漫漫

HAI MAN MAN - THE BOUNDLESS SEA

IDENTITY remains the central focus of Hyue’s artistic practice and ongoing research. This work is part of his current series exploring the duality of DESIRE and FEAR. Desire and fear shape our individual actions, choices, and experiences, while also influencing collective behaviours and projections on a broader social scale.

Living in southern Portugal, close to the Atlantic Ocean, visiting the beach has become a daily ritual - a moment of stillness, reflection, and contemplation. Standing in front of the boundless horizon of the sea, I feel the harsh wind cutting across my cheeks, the sand roughly brushing against my shoulders, and the cold water numbing my feet. A blade-like sensation seems to move through me, from the inside out.

I am deeply drawn toward the water, yet simultaneously held back by the threat of the unknown. This tension between attraction and restraint fascinates me. In that moment, a classical poem from the Tang Dynasty by Bai JuYi, remembered from my childhood, surfaced in my mind:

“海漫漫，直下无底，旁无边，云涛烟浪最深处"(The sea is boundless—its waters vast and deep; its edges cannot be seen, its bottom cannot be fathomed. Wind and waves rise through mist and cloud, reaching unfathomable depths.)

Through this encounter with the Atlantic, I began to reflect on my relationship with Portugal through the lens of my Chinese understanding of Saudade…