When I was in elementary school, fresh to the U.S. and still navigating the unease of an alien land, a Sichuan opera face-changing performance at an international student welcome event stopped me in my tracks. That moment—familiar cultural rhythms beating in an unfamiliar world—etched itself into my memory like a half-remembered melody.

Years later, back in my hometown, I stepped beyond the stage’s edge: standing face-to-face with inheritors of this intangible cultural heritage, camera in hand. Through my lens, I captured not just their on-stage dynamism, but the quiet behind-the-scenes moments too—fingers adjusting masks, breaths steadying before a performance, the soft glow of makeup mirrors. This was no distant observation; I leaned past the comfort of casual distance, choosing a close-up perspective to meet the art (and myself) where it lives most truly.

This project is my quiet homecoming to identity—finding, in every frame of mask and memory, the piece of myself I first glimpsed so far from home.