待尘埃落定 till the dust settles (2024)
I sneezed, then sneezed again.
But I couldn't find the allergen.
Perhaps it's just the dust reminding me not to forget their presence.
The dust calls, pulling me into their ritual.
They're as light as whispers, and I, too, float weightlessly,
But without weight, I would disappear.
So I thread a line, encircling myself in loops.
White thread, white dust.
At one end of the thread, it covers me, covers the chair, covers the bed,
covers the funeral flowers, covers my mother, and covers time.
At the other end, it pulls at me, refusing to let go. Yet in its grip, my life finds weight, no longer just a trace.
// Models: Karizma Baker-Upshaw, Aditri Bhattacharjee, Shan Deng, Noah Paik, Hyunna Eliana Park, Siena Soffe, Hailey Winn, Hebe Wang
// Make up: Arielle Alexander, Ma Yiming
// Hair: Bee Pettway
// Studio Photographer: Matthew Callahan, Seth Fields, Grace DeAngelo, Aliyah, Ke Lianghong, Chloe Vo
// Runway Photographer: Ke Lianghong, Shannon Light Hadley, Sydney Lindman