“you used to tell me 白素貞 & 小青 were in love,” 2023, handbuilt ceramic altar, 36 x 18 x 18 inches

Whenever my grandmother would stay with my family, the first thing she and I would do together was watch a Chinese opera about 白素貞 & 小青. grandma would narrate to me how the green snake spirit, 小青, devoted their life to 白素貞 after the latter saved them from being attacked by humans. 白素貞 turned into a human to experience love, got married and was happy, until her husband, conspiring with the strict monk Faihai, betrayed her to reveal her true form. Her husband died at the shock of seeing her snake form, and in order to bring him back to life, 白素貞 stole an immortal herb from Heaven. The monk Faihai took credit for saving the husband and imprisoned 白素貞. In the final act, I would play 小青, dancing to summon the waves to free her beloved 白素貞 from under Leifang Pagoda.

This altar commemorates queer survival and community support during a time when we experience so much violence.