All is visible and all elusive, all is near and can't be touched. --Octavio Paz

Between Going and Staying was inspired by lines from Octavio Paz’s poem of the same name. In a dimly lit gallery, fine black sand falls continuously through a broken light bulb suspended from the ceiling, quietly filling the entire room along with a voice-like sound track played on a Central Asian cello-like instrument called a MaToChin.

The project deals with the ephemeral experience of an artist who finds himself existing between Heaven and Earth, caught in the currents of history, facing himself and the “self” that is part of eternal time in the cosmic torrent, asking visitors to reflect on the nature of the moment. Whether the immediate experience is of “going” or “staying,” mankind continues to “go” and “stay” both physically and emotionally.

Special thanks to Sandy Wong Shin.