“Birds, the Flowers, and Them” is an ongoing photography series that explores the meaning of “home.”
Through his lens, artist Su Yang documents his journey as a new immigrant from China to Switzerland, as well as his interactions with other immigrants along the way.
Throughout this process, numerous questions of identity are examined: the sense of belonging as Asian immigrants in a new destination, how one perceives one’s own identity, and what constitutes a “home.”
Sometimes, the process of migration is unconsidered, unplanned, and unexpected. The artist likens his immigration experience to a state of “being swept along by the winds of fate, taking root wherever they carry him,” a condition reminiscent of dandelion seeds or migratory birds in constant motion. Such movement continues to intensify amid today’s globalization, with more and more people beginning to adapt to, or even embrace, a nomadic lifestyle. Starting from his own experience, the artist gradually uncovers common ground among residents from diverse backgrounds. As a result, individual identity is downplayed in this project, while emotions resonant among a broader population are emphasized in the imagery.
In this photographic series, the artist makes extensive use of red and black, powerfully evoking a feeling of detachment from identity through his visual compositions.
About Su Yang
Yang spent his early childhood surrounded by nature in an isolated military factory community, moving with his family to different cities from a young age. Growing up during the 1990s, a period marked by China’s rapid modernization and economic expansion, he witnessed profound transformations across the country. While China achieved remarkable success in economic and technological development, he, as an individual artist, found it difficult to express himself openly within that environment.
After establishing a successful career in commercial photography, he felt a strong urge to articulate his own voice through a more personal artistic practice. In 2019, he enrolled as a Master’s student in photography at ECAL in Switzerland. During his studies and experiences there, he rediscovered the deep connection to nature that had shaped his early years.
In his recent work, which sometimes incorporates digital experimentation, bodies of water emerge as central metaphorical elements through which he explores his life experiences and offers critical reflections on the Anthropocene. His investigation into the relationship between the material and the virtual, as well as the idea of materializing the virtual, has become a key axis of his artistic practice. [Official Website]
