Faculty of Design

Environmental Design - Interior Design Specialization

Jiaxuan Li

Being Contained

A photography series exploring the blurred sense of identity as a new immigrant. It captures a quiet drift between cultures. The nine images move from public urban fragments to private space, gradually revealing a search for belonging in a city that still feels out of reach.

“This photography series is my attempt as a new immigrant to explore my identity and position in Toronto, a city I have lived in for four years, yet still feels out of reach at times. The nine photos move from public city spaces inward, ending with my own reflection.I begin with worn fabric billboards in Chinatown and a translucent curtain that covers half the downtown skyline. These images suggest a world that is often neglected and partially hidden. As the sequence continues, more things are reflected, but the busy, layered, and uncertain feeling remains. Grills, shadows, and blurred reflections make the atmosphere more personal, enclosed, even trapped. Through different cultural symbols, my identity becomes intertwined: gaining something, while losing something else.It ends with me sitting in my personal space. Through the window, the city glows with countless lit windows, and my own figure overlays them. As in all the other photos, I feel adrift in the city, not sure where to land.These photos are quiet and obscure, just as the sense of belonging often is. Allowing oneself to observe and exist with uncertainty. Maybe one day, the reflection of the self will be mirrored back by reality.”