Untitled

Alan Liu

It all began with discovering forgotten prints—artwork left behind by promising students who had passed through the doors of my high school. For years, these digital prints, filled with the identity and emotion of the artists and their models had gathered dust in numerous storage lockers. Half abandoned. Perhaps it was the hoarder in me, but I felt these pieces deserved more than an idle existence, their stories left hidden, their identities fading.

What does this act of redisplaying mean to me? It is an exploration of the changing and lost identities, both theirs and mine. As I reintroduced these works, I wrestled with a sense of shame in showcasing art that isn’t fully fine. I also breathed a responsibility to honour the essence within each piece—hidden layers of meaning and expression, now retold through my own emotions. Each artwork became a new creation, grappling with evolving identities and interpretations, reflecting the fluid nature of identity as seen through the eyes of a new artist.

The masks and chaotic brushstrokes in my reimagined pieces evoke vulnerability and introspection. They invite viewers to contemplate the tension between self-expression and the internal facades we construct to obscure our true selves from the world. Through this project, I aim to bridge the gap between past and present identities, giving forgotten art a renewed presence while acknowledging the complexities of reinterpreting someone else’s vision.

@alan.x.francis