Becoming Rivers

As children we always loved to fold paper boats and float them down the stream. We believed that they carried our hopes for the future, especially for going out into the world, into unknown places. This work carries forward the idea of migrations, including my own from China to Canada, by bringing the Yangtze and Fraser rivers together across the Pacific. Both rivers are formed by smaller rivers joining together as they flow towards the ocean. In my experience, they signify the coming together of peoples and cultures.

For me, there were no bridges to help me cross these rivers. I learned that you have to jump into the river and swim a long distance to experience another culture, and to be open to benefiting from differences. There is conflict in that process. I have asked myself, How can I bring the two main rivers in my life together? The answer: I have to become like a river myself—a river of migration, a river of trans-cultural identities, a river of change and uncertainty—in order to bring these forces into a third space.

- Gu Xiong