Carson Weifenglong Yang

Loved, Accepted, Seen

This project brings together three groups of protective amulets given to me by friends on my birthdays, each presented alongside a letter they wrote to me. Developed through my experience of living with leukemia, the work does not attempt to represent illness directly. Instead, it reflects on how care, love, and vulnerability become visible through small objects and personal gestures.In daily life, I do not always think of myself as a patient or as someone defined by cancer. Much of the time, I move through the world as an ordinary person. It is often through the concern of others that this part of my identity comes back into view. When my friends give me protective amulets, their gestures remind me that I am seen as someone in need of care, protection, and hope. In this way, the work traces how my identity as a cancer patient is not always self-defined, but is also made visible through relationships.These amulets are not only symbols of safety. They are material traces of affection, worry, and acceptance. They mark the presence of people who wanted to protect me, even in ways that are symbolic rather than practical. Paired with the letters, they move beyond still life into a narrative of friendship, memory, and emotional support. Together, the objects and texts form a small archive of how love takes material form.Set against a black background and shaped by a single light source, the amulets emerge with a quiet intensity that slows the act of looking. Their worn surfaces and fragile material presence draw attention to how ordinary objects can hold care, memory, and emotional weight. Through the interplay of image and text, the work reflects on how identity comes into view through others. It dwells in the tension between feeling ordinary and being reminded of vulnerability, and in the gradual recognition that being a patient is part of who I am, even when I do not fully define myself through that identity. At its core, the work is about being loved, accepted, and seen.