Fruition
Visual
Collage
2025
New York
My collage is a reinterpretation of Zhang Huan’s 1997 performance To Raise the Water Level in a Fishpond. Having grown up in a Buddhist family, I gradually came to realize that within the institutionalized structure of Buddhism, not all beings are treated equally. Wealth and power grant certain individuals greater access—to teachings, to rituals, even to spaces. I’ve witnessed how the wealthy can reserve entire temple halls for private ceremonies, while those without privilege are often excluded, left unguided in their spiritual path.
In Buddhist doctrine, one aspires to “attain fruition,” to reach enlightenment. But for those deemed insignificant, this path feels perpetually out of reach. They remain the incomplete fruits—never ripening, never ascending. Like the men submerged in Zhang Huan’s pond, their presence is visible yet seemingly unable to raise the water level. Their efforts—like their faith—are swallowed by silence. It is a quiet futility.