Artifact–Mirage (2025–)

Artifact–Mirage explores the fragile divide between essence and illusion. By placing inverted glass masks atop coarse silica—the raw origin of glass—the work mimics a desert mirage, capturing the moment reality blurs into fantasy. The piece frames sand as "essence" and glass as "illusion." This "parasitic intimacy" suggests that illusion is not a falsehood but an alchemized truth; the clarity of the glass depends entirely on the grit it obscures. By presenting the masks face-down, the work shifts focus from outward performance to the "transparent presence" beneath, questioning the materials and beliefs that transmute raw sand into spectacle. Ultimately, it asks: When we grasp at hope, are we touching water or holding sand? It concludes that while hope may be as ephemeral as a mirage, it still requires the solid ground of reality to exist.