The Silent Absense

The Silent Absence is an experimental animation inspired during my studies at the University of the Arts London and developed over subsequent years. It reflects on the impact of domestic violence, using frame-by-frame illustrations—some looped and projected within my rented London home—to suggest the presence of abuse drifting like a ghost through domestic space, transforming it into a layered stage for memory and emotion. Alongside the animation, I created a companion illustrated wordless book to extend the narrative of women’s experiences of domestic violence, offering a tangible, interactive form through which viewers could engage with the work.
The visuals draw on textures from my personal surroundings—bed sheets, furniture, cotton fabric—while a fragmented soundscape composed from interviews in two official Chinese domestic violence documentaries gives voice to women who endured long-term abuse, as well as a prisoner who resisted after being threatened with the murder of her entire family. Voices of children growing up in violent homes are also included, evoking the deep emotional turbulence of such experiences.
By avoiding spoken narration, the work invites viewers to engage through visual and emotional intuition, opening a quiet yet charged space between fear and resilience. Exhibited internationally in New York and Paris, it was also shortlisted for the 2025 World Illustration Awards.