Love Scenes, brought together material gathered during two journeys to Yunnan, documenting places and songs before they fade out of existence, as China swiftly modernises and refocuses its self. The work draws particular reference from the culture and rituals of the Naxi minority. The narratives embedded within the works often create a sense of isolation or loss, as they echo the demise of local customs and beliefs, alongside the power and inherent emotional qualities of the locations.

At the centre of the project lies the story of two young lovers who were forbidden to marry, and chose instead to die together on a meadow located on the mountain sacred in Naxi beliefs, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (Yulong Xueshan).

The landscapes themselves become a form of portrait, barely breathing. They are both stages and bodies, carefully arranged and lovingly tended, often despite the harsh reality of life beside them.

The video, Love Scenes, documents Naxi antiphonal or dialogue courtship songs, the song evaporating as they are sung, as they become virtually extinct.

The video is comprised of 3 sections or songs in a loop, moving from a young couple divided by trees, to a solitary woman in an expansive valley scene playing a ‘call’ tune on a tree leaf, to an elderly couple in a distant mountain hilltop. The split screens of the couples, echoes the song style and formal rules: that the lovers should not see one when singing, but should be separated by trees or a river as they become acquainted and fall in love.

Leaf Song shows the choice of leaf of one of my singers, taken from an orange tree in her courtyard garden.