Xintong Chen
Bio
I was born in China and study at the University of Toronto Scarborough, majoring in Studio Art and double minoring in Media Studies and Economics for Management Studies. I came to Canada to study when I was 16 years old and spent two years in Hamilton to finish high school. I like to record life through photography and enjoy traveling to different places to shoot scenery. As I am inspired by life, many of my works reflect on the details of life and the process of creation.
Qiulan Yao
My grandma's name is Qiulan Yao and she is 74 years old. In this photography series, I record my grandma through close-up photos of her hands doing different activities to document her daily life. When I see her holding things in her hand, I find the skin on her hands to be very rough. Therefore, I photographed her hands as the main subject. I want to show the story between my grandma's hand and her activities in hopes to allow the viewer to relate to them with their grandparent in mind.
My grandma like to cook. When I stay up late, she will gather some American ginseng to put in a soup to help me recover my energy. She is also good at sewing. One time, she thought my pants were torn and planned to sew them up, but she did not know it was designed in that way. Moreover, she knitted a scarf for me with a technique her mother taught her. I have a cat, and she will help me take care of my cat when I am busy completing assignments even though she does not like cats very much. To prevent Alzheimer's disease, I tried to teach her how to play Mahjong and a memory game. In her hometown, Chaoshan in Guangdong, China, they have a tea culture. She will pick the leaves from this tree and brew them to make tea for the both of us.
