household registered

This project takes its starting point from the hukou, the Chinese family register that functions like a domestic passport. Each household has only one, usually kept by the father. Eight years ago, I stole mine.

When I later arrived in Clermont-Ferrand as a foreign student in France, questions of identity became urgent. Who am I? I am Chinese, the daughter of farmers, queer, an unwanted child. By returning to this document, I began to construct my own narrative. I superimpose images and fragments of text to recount this search, weaving personal memory with broader structures of belonging.

At one point, I wrote an ending, imagining myself released from my past. But I quickly realized that I have no control over what I create, nor over my obsessions. My works often come back as ghosts—remnants of history that refuse to disappear, yet also entangled with present dreams.