Wren Tian: Audio Self Portrait
Files
Dublin Core
Title
Wren Tian: Audio Self Portrait
Description
A self-portrait audio recording by Wren Tian for the exhibition "Of Kin and Other Impossible Homes"
Creator
Wren Tian
Source
Publisher
The ArQuives: Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives
Date
May 2025
Language
English
Sound Item Type Metadata
Transcription
Self-portrait taken on a polaroid camera.
I’m a Chinese transmasculine person in their late 20s. Both these descriptors poke at some discomfort. For one, I’m not always pegged as Chinese, so at times I spiral wondering if I grew up around less white people and speaking the language, maybe my face would look different or maybe I could have more claim to my Chinese-ness (it’s not logical). Secondly, labels, gender, and language are so limiting and this doesn’t feel like the perfect word but it’s something that people have come to understand.
I’m sitting in the living room of the house I have lived in for the past five years. It looks bare compared to before. Up until recently, this room belonged to a dear friend. We’re still adjusting to being cities apart. And I’m still learning what it means to make a home.
Perched on the backrest of a big blue chair, leaning towards the camera, chin resting on my left palm while the other drapes over my knee.
Behind me is a painting by a friend, a patterned abstract piece that resembles a wall of fungi. I’m wearing a black fabric harness that another friend helped make. I owe so much to my loved ones.
Despite being exhausted by the ongoings of life, excitement fills me too. I hope we can become old and laugh about hard learned stories over our thousandth last cigarette.
I’m a Chinese transmasculine person in their late 20s. Both these descriptors poke at some discomfort. For one, I’m not always pegged as Chinese, so at times I spiral wondering if I grew up around less white people and speaking the language, maybe my face would look different or maybe I could have more claim to my Chinese-ness (it’s not logical). Secondly, labels, gender, and language are so limiting and this doesn’t feel like the perfect word but it’s something that people have come to understand.
I’m sitting in the living room of the house I have lived in for the past five years. It looks bare compared to before. Up until recently, this room belonged to a dear friend. We’re still adjusting to being cities apart. And I’m still learning what it means to make a home.
Perched on the backrest of a big blue chair, leaning towards the camera, chin resting on my left palm while the other drapes over my knee.
Behind me is a painting by a friend, a patterned abstract piece that resembles a wall of fungi. I’m wearing a black fabric harness that another friend helped make. I owe so much to my loved ones.
Despite being exhausted by the ongoings of life, excitement fills me too. I hope we can become old and laugh about hard learned stories over our thousandth last cigarette.
Duration
1 minute and 33 seconds
Citation
Wren Tian, “Wren Tian: Audio Self Portrait,” The ArQuives Digital Exhibitions, accessed August 13, 2026, https://digitalexhibitions.arquives.ca/items/show/3308.