I am a designer and visual artist working with moving image design. During the last year, I explored different narratives of feminism and formed a community-based research method as a storyteller and a visual practitioner.
Based in London. For now.
Xinyue Chang
My mum's cancer changed the way I value everything. Visualising this part of my experience became the direction of my practice. In wanting to tell my story, the idea of reaching out to young women whose mothers have cancer and creating a platform to exchange experiences came to me. Through my practice, I want to help others, especially through the COVID-19 pandemic, to find a place to heal themselves.
The podcast series ‘MoonlightPaddle’ begins my journey of engaging and extending my community. My pursuit is to make my story and visual language sharp and straightforward (maybe painful) like a papercut.
This is a collection of interview fragments from the MoonlightPaddle podcast. We share our stories and understandings of cancer, family, and mother-daughter relationships.
This website directs to full MoonlightPaddle content, including podcast episodes on different platforms, films, tbc...
Medium:
websitemother / daughter
daughter / mother
cancer / pandemic
Facing cancer can be different from country to country, culture to culture. My stories are mostly Chinese, but common grounds can be found.
This work involves conducting interviews with young Chinese women whose mothers have cancer, exchanging thoughts on the roles of parents and children, recording dialogues, creating short videos and developing a podcast.
Every one of us who accompanied or is accompanying our mother's cancer battle may experience fear and anxiety. Illness forces us to rethink our past, to resituate our roles in society and community. We have different stories, but we share the same identity as Chinese females in this work. This process is worthy of visualising, as a story to others, as a memoir for ourselves. Forming the bridge between our community and the outer world is the key to more understanding and support.
The future of this campaign is a collaboration with AIRUCHUJIAN, a breast cancer voluntary service in China. This will focus on supporting breast cancer patients and their families and stimulating mental health aid in public hospitals.