“I Still Look For You” is a 45 minute performance dedicated to my deceased mother.

Performance Description:

When audiences entered in Neutral Grand Artist Run Centre , they saw 12 clocks that ran backwards on the gallery wall and other 12 clocks filled with salt on a table. They were also presented with a 14ft clock made with salt and wood on floor.

• I walked in front of the clocks , I used ink to write the names of months with Chinese characters under each clock . While I was writing, my performance partner, Johanna Bundon, translated the words to English.
• I skipped the month of October,  continuing to write November and December. And then I came back to October, I blocked the clock face with ink, I wrote ” My mother passed away on October 24th, 2016.” Johanna translated the words to English simultaneously.
• I lifted the first clock that represents January on the table, and I let the salt to run until all salt ran out from the clock, and then I put the clock on a satin fabric on floor. Each time I lifted a clock, I would say a word that related to my mother.  While I was engaging with the 12 small clocks, Johanna was engaging with the big salt clock on floor. She didn’t touch the salt at this moment.
• I packed the clocks on floor, wrapping the clocks with the satin fabric to make it look like a bag. I carried the bag on my shoulder.
• A video projection was on ( please see the video link attached below), I walked with my knees backward inside the clock to make the clock alive. Sometimes I picked some salt and tasted it. At the same time, Johanna started to put small candles on each salt pile on table. However, she didn’t put a candle on the month of October, instead, she put a purple incense, and she lighted them.
• The video was off, I hung my bag on the wall,  caressing the salt piles with my face while Johanna was dancing on the salt.
• After I caressed all salt piles on the table, I went to the clock on the floor, I laid beside one side of the clock arms and Johanna laid on another side, we looked at each other.

For the video, please visit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwMxF1pPtlU

This work is presented by Dunlop Art Gallery in Regina, curated by Blair Fornwald, hosted by Neutral Ground Artist Run Centre, and performed with Johanna Bundon on March 30, 2019

photo credit: Daniel Paquet

Chun Hua Catherine Dong would like to thanks Johanna Bundon for her excellent contribution to this work, and Dunlop Art Gallery and Neutral Grand Artist Run Centre generous support.