Last Words
2025
Chinese spirit paper, wac, plastic beads, cotton
2025
Chinese spirit paper, wac, plastic beads, cotton
In China, we believe that burning can transfer objects from the living world to the afterlife for our departed loved ones. At funerals, we burn spirit money, red candles, and incense as offerings—sending them currency to use in the other world while expressing our remembrance and wishes. We also believe that words carried in incense smoke can reach the deceased. In this work, I used incense to inscribe final words on spirit paper. As the incense burned through each sheet, the traces grew fainter, my words fading away like the last breath of the departed.