-- Artist statement
As opposed to nostalgia (the sentimental distress experienced by individuals when separated from home) solastalgia is a form of melancholy evoked by changes that have happened in the used-to-be familiar home context, referring to a special homesickness sensed by people when they are still within the home environment.
Personally, nostalgia was experienced when I was away from my hometown while solastalgia struck me when I returned home as soon as I realised the relationship between my past memories and current realties had fractured. I set out to explore areas around my hometown trying to capture my uncertainties during the transformation. This is a project of exploring memories and seeking identities in the context of tremendous change in China.
Yangkun Shi 史阳琨 was born in 1991, Henan province, China. After undergraduate study in journalism, he earned a Master Degree in Photography from University of the Arts London in 2017. From the onset of his career, Shi has worked simultaneously as a photojournalist and a visual artist. As a multimedia reporter for Sixth Tone (an English online media), he has covered multiple in-depth reports by including voices from those most intimately involved in some social events in China. Meanwhile, Shi pushes himself to develop research-based art projects in his free time, and uses the language of photography to explore the complexity of Chinese society in a more subtle way.
His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in various art institutions, including the Shanghai Center of Photography, Zhejiang Art Museum, and Dunedin Fine Art Center. His work has been featured in TIME, Artsy, LensCulture and South China Morning Post. His production has received many awards including PHMuseum Photography Grant, PDN Emerging Photographer, TOP20 Chinese Contemporary Photographer and the First Prize of UrbanPhotoFest Open. He is also a fellow of the Magnum Foundation in 2019.
More information: www.shiyangkun.com
