YUCHEN LI (MOXI)Visual Artist/ Photographer
Inspired by a diary entry I wrote eight years ago, this piece traces the memory of witnessing my great-grandmother’s final breath—her presence fading like a retreating light. In the chaos that followed, I felt soft illusions, as if she lingered beside us, whispering comfort, until she vanished completely at the crematorium.
In the year after her passing, I thought of her more than in the decade before. A childhood friend once told me that those who leave this world become stars, gently illuminating our path.
In Celtic mythology, stars are believed to be “the doors of souls”—a threshold where the departed continue to watch over the living. Star-light is said to be the echo of longing, and when you look into the night sky, the one you miss will always answer from the other side.Every star is ancient light. The one I once gazed at as a child had witnessed my great-grandmother’s birth, accompanied us through time, and still shines quietly along my path
This work is a tribute to her, and to the enduring light of those we miss.