Standing as a bold and definitive monument of contemporary conceptual staging, masterfully challenges traditional botanical arrangements by converting a simple human document into a multi-layered, painterly dreamscape within the discipline of abstract still life photography. Part of Ying Chen’s critically acclaimed series, this unique physical creation treats the composition space as an analytical laboratory for spatial investigation, examining how small flower and branch cuttings can inspire and channel dreamt memories of distant landscapes. The arrangement tracks an intricate graphic rhythm against an absolute black environmental void, presenting a collection of translucent glass vessels wrapped in a calculated aesthetic friction with raw, hand-cut volumetric cloud papers and sky-blue fragments. By superposing delicate organic stems with deep sky-toned paper layers and adding precise, stitch-like graphic lines that make viewers question whether they see a physical object or a paper-cutting collage, the artist successfully replicates a foggy, oneiric atmosphere filled with illumination and internal strength.
Ying Chen has a recurring dream: scenery consisting of cloud filled Sky, fields of grass, and a body of water. In this foggy but colorful dream, the sky is cloudy, yet everything is brightly lit. there is a thick fog blurring her vision she cannot discern whether it is imagined or familiar scenes. The artist wanted to capture in photos how small flower cuttings can inspire/trigger those dreamt memories of landscapes. By composing nature figures into a photo, she wanted to represent how flower cutting can channel those dreamscapes in a photo. Stitch-like lines were added to make a person question if what they are seeing is paper paper-cutting collage, hoping to replicate a dream-like feel through making viewers question the photos.
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Abstract Still Life Photography - Untitled #3 There is an ocean in my glass 2020
Untitled #3, 2020
From the series "There is an ocean in my glass"
Archival Pigment prints
Limited Edition.
Unframed
Ying Chen was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Chinese parents living in Japan. She grew up and spent her early childhood in Japan until the age of seven, then spent her youth in China. Now Chen has graduated from SCAD with her bachelor's degree and is currently enrolled in the SCAD graduate photo department.






