Zeyan Tang

Shanghai, China

ARTIST STATEMENT

The story happened on the lake shore of Lake Michigan.
The 2020 pandemic has divided us and united us. From office to online working, from classroom to Zoom lecture, we are increasingly dependent on technologies that further remove us from nature and each other. The meandering, melancholic life that we share has awakened our pensiveness towards human interaction and isolation.
Mar.1st 2020: A 10k run triggered my acute pneumonia, a typical symptom for Covid-19 patients.
Mar.17th 2020: I touched down at LAX Airport at 21:40 PST, 20 minutes before the US closed its boarder for UK travelers, where I had been studying abroad. I began a 10-month solitary existence, hoping that the post-effects of Covid-19 would disappear. The longest summer heat wave and inextinguishable forest fires exacerbated my lingering lung issues from Covid-19.
Sep.24th 2020: Worn down by constant lung issues, insomnia, brain fog, and isolation, I relocated to Chicago on my birthday.
Sep.24th 2020 – Nov.18th 2020: As a former swimmer, I found Lake Michigan both a meditative site, and a place that enabled me to reconnect with nature and my community. The therapeutic experience of photographing the lake also alleviated my anxiety and depression.
Feb 2021 - Present: After a year of distressing separation from water, I have returned to Hamilton and I am swimming every day.