Artist statement: I am a first generation, second wave, and third culture Chinese-Australian. Although born in Hong Kong, the place I identify as ‘home’ is within the western suburbs of Sydney. When I resigned from work during the lockdowns of 2020–21, I was left wondering who I was and where I belonged in Australian society. I thought the answers could be found by returning to my childhood home. The opportunity to revisit this location finally arrived in 2022, and I was disappointed to find the place transformed and unwelcoming.

‘Shadow spaces of home’ is a materialisation of the homeplace that exists in memory ephemerally, but no longer physically. It is constructed from the original building schematics and photographs from my family’s archives.

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