Siqin Bian: A Dream Came to Me Like a Photograph

Curated by Xiao Liu
On View: November 22, 2024 -January 17, 2025.

Opening Reception: Friday, November 22, 2024, 6–9 pm

Live Performance Special Guests: John Tsung, Maŕa Peralta
Location: Thermostat Coffee Bar Tapas 210 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Before the constructed scene is captured by the moment-freezing apparatus, photography unfolds as a quiet, unmarked story—a tactile dialogue between the one in front of the lens and the one who presses the shutter, woven from the interlacing threads of shared instants. Siqin Bian explores the possibility of a photograph crafted through and within the narrative, asking how photography can become a tool to reframe the relationship between the subject and the photographer. The photographer is not a mere observer but another actor in the same play. This approach seizes the transient moment when a routine relationship is poised to transform into a contemplative space, where intimacy, introspection, and visual poetry intermingle.

This method is exemplified in When the Wind Rises. As the dancer warmed up, losing herself in movement, Bian chose to dance alongside her, using light as her paintbrush. The two performers—dancer and painter—immersed themselves in darkness, attuned to the flow of air, the sound of breath, improvising as though time had stilled or stretched long enough to feel there was only a single moment to seize. And then there is a photo, born from an intimate engagement without touch, a dialogue where no words were spoken. On the other side of the same coin, in When the Sun Sets, as the model took a brief moment to relax after being directed to try on different garments repeatedly, and as the photographers’ eyes grew weary, a lingering connection was established—clothing as a patterned screen, the model as herself, and the photographer capturing not through the viewfinder but through a tactile sense.

In her photograph A Silence Runs off Through the Grass, two dancers embrace before a small grove at night, enveloped by a beam of light piercing the darkness and casting itself upon their entwined forms. The models were given a scene—an invitation to interact—and they tapped into memories of play, wrestling like children and finally leaning on each other. 'I saw them as one and inseparable,' Bian reflects. 'Inseparability is a state I deeply appreciate, yet it is rare to experience.' Framed by two tall trees, their figures manifest both solitude and unity, hinting at the elusive nature of intimate connection—a merging that evokes both strength and fragility.

Bian’s photographs evoke a subtle melancholy that goes beyond mere reminiscence, carving new pathways into her re-imagination of the imaginable. In the There is Truth in Fantasies series, Bian invites viewers into a dreamscape inspired by an immersive performance and a poetic fragment: “I dreamt that we were dreaming a dream together, you and I. And we were trapped in a house, big as memory.” In a departure from her typical work, the subject gazes back at the camera as if the subject not only recognizes herself within a dream but responds to the one who created it.

This direct gaze from within the imagined realm reflects a predicament of the contemporary world. With the rise of high-resolution smartphones, innumerable photos are taken, uploaded, posted, shared, re-shared, and reposted. The screen in front and the camera behind dictate how we see ourselves and others. Our ways of seeing and being seen are disciplined, programmed, and internalized. The question here for the artist is not whether an escape from this mechanism is possible but what conscious choices we might make to rebuild human relationships by repurposing these devices and filling the pixels with human temperature. Siqin Bian’s work suggests that one path may lie in discovering the moment we choose to dwell within—where interaction fosters a sense of wholeness through an intricate, shared dance of connection, creating a story without a fixed end.

About:
Siqin Bian is a New York City-based director and photographer whose work explores the nuanced interplay of narrative, imagination, and cultural perspective. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts with a master’s degree in fashion photography, Bian brings a distinct sensibility to her craft, shaped by her upbringing in China and later experiences in New Mexico and New York. Her work seeks to transcend conventional boundaries, embedding a narrative depth and emotional intimacy that reveal unique facets of her subjects. Her photographs have been featured in renowned publications, including Vogue Italia, Harper’s Bazaar China, Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam, Nasty Magazine, Judas Magazine, Huf Magazine, and Metal Magazine, attesting to her refined vision and international appeal.