Renee Lai | In The Water You Become

In the water you become anonymous, suspended in an unfeeling substance. In the water, you are at its mercy, just the same as everyone else. In the water, it is black, too deep and dark to see. It is hard to stay calm as you propel yourself over unknown depths and dangers, your face submerged and your breath held.

Your held breath both calms and scares you. The water touches you and holds you. The water touches you and weighs on you, your body dissolving. Seen from above or below it is hard to tell who you are, face, hair, and skin obscured by the mass of individual droplets. The water reflects the light, rendering you iridescent, golden, simultaneously too dark and too bright to see. You disappear, like some aquatic creature, into the water.