MEDIUM: Video (Performance Art)
SIZE: Variable
VIDEO LINK:
*Documented by Yatong Tan
The work is inspired by the artist’s experience of walking alone at night in London. She channels this fear and unease into an inquiry that recovers, rather than reimagines, Nvwa’s earlier profile from historical and textual sources. Beyond the common portrayal of Nvwa as the “mother” who created humanity and mended the broken sky, early accounts reveal her as a human-headed, serpent-bodied empress who truly held power and resources.
Through bodily rituals—such as praying for rain, interacting with water, and employing symbols like the serpent and the crack—the artist traces Nvwa’s shift from a self-sacrificing maternal figure to an awakened serpent force connected to natural instincts. She is both protector and embodiment of authority.
While rooted in Chinese mythology, the work also speaks to a broader tradition in which myths preserve multiple, sometimes conflicting, truths. By revisiting these layers, the project becomes a reclaiming: a summoning of the courage women are taught to forget, an affirmation of identity and the body, and a reflection on how the telling of stories—across cultures—shapes history itself.