Si Yi Shen

Sunshine Coast National Art Prize 2025 - Finalist

_{Image courtesy of the artist}

Artist Statement

Embrace is part of my ongoing series - Mother's Bloom, exploring digital intimacy, intergenerational bonds, and how diasporic families stay connected across distance. This work stems from a quiet but meaningful language. My mother and I exchange images of flowers and fruits through hundreds of SMS messages to keep in touch. Since moving to Brisbane while she remains in Sydney, we have developed this non-verbal language that doesn't rely on words but speaks through colour, texture, and growth cycles in our gardens.

Embrace is a visual mapping of our conversations, steaming with care and longing, built from these countless exchanges. As an artist working with digital assemblage, I am intrigued by how the arrangement of our photos pieced together a lively composition that reflects an ongoing dialogue and physically distant relationship of care.

This work is not just a record of our exchanges but a meditation on how the smallest gesture, such as a flower sent across a screen or a fruit shared in a message, becomes an act of care and continuity. In an increasingly digital world, I see Embrace as a reflection of how love takes shape in ephemeral yet deeply enduring ways.