Possible Landscapes, 2023

In my home, there hangs a set of empty photo frames on the wall devoid of any pictures. About four or five years ago, my dad and I purchased these frames from IKEA and hung them up, but for all those years we never got around to filling them with photos. Even the protective plastic film remained intact until just before I left to study abroad for my postgraduate degree.

To me, this empty photo wall serves as a stark representation of our family's hectic lifestyle. Both of my parents are workaholics, always burdened with anxiety, be it voluntarily or involuntarily. For as long as I can remember, our family rarely had moments of leisure or enjoyment. It always felt like we were in a perpetual state of waiting - waiting for me to pass middle school, waiting for me to get into university, or perhaps waiting for that elusive moment when they would feel they've ‘earned enough money’, and only then would we truly start living.

It wasn't until recently that I realised life had already begun and I didn't have to wait with them.

I approached the grammar of sequential art and created this non-linear comic in response to the empty photo wall at home. It depicts a simple morning that I kept wanting but kept missing. Sitting down with my childhood self, we decided there is no need to seek distant horizons, but to discover the possible landscapes here.