Jasphy Yiran Zheng was born in southern China, 1992. After living and studying in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, she is now based in Providence achieving a BFA in Photography at Rhode Island School of Design. She is the recipient of the travel grant from Francesca Woodman Family Foundation in 2015. Her work has been exhibited internationally including US, China, UK and Australia. She uses photography along with other media, from artist books, video to performance to construct her language.
The Unfinished Letter
This series is based on my journeys in China, where I turned myself into a private investigator to dig out the truth of the suicide of my mentor, who encouraged me to be an artist.
It was almost a mission impossible, considering the fact that five years have passed since her death and fifteen years since we first met. Let alone the fact that we have very few mutual friends or connection. Knowing the little possibility of success, my journey is a destructive healing process I gave to myself as well as a gesture of letting go. I revisited schools she once worked for and university she graduated from to collect clues. Simply by asking people about her or hearing people talk about her makes me feel that I am not the only person who remembers her.
It is a journey of finding answer. Not only of her suicide, but also my persistence in searching and longing, and my decision to be an artist to live up to her expectation. Ultimately, I’m examining the connection between individuals, the predetermined failure of it.
To see more of Jasphy’s photographs, please view her website.