Home Phrases

Personal Project

This project reflects on the experiences of isolation during the pandemic, exploring the intersection of isolation and social connection, and its impact on mental health, emotional well-being, and the evolving relationships people have with their domestic spaces. During this time, I spent an extended period living alone, which magnified previously overlooked aspects of daily life, offering new perspectives on the mundane and its connection to resilience and self-discovery.

Through prolonged time at home, I began interpreting inhabited spaces using spatial formats, focusing on the narratives that play out between cohabitants within shared spaces. This exploration aims to transform a sense of sadness and restriction into an opportunity for playful engagement and discovery. Inspired by phenomenological and semiotic perspectives on lived experiences in architectural spaces, I’ve discovered deeper meanings embedded within the concept of “home.”

In this project, conversations between flatmates are recorded, translated into illustrations, and transformed into tangible play blocks, which are then reinterpreted by the same flatmates. The illustrations, blocks, and performances are interconnected, creating a dialogue that bridges visual, physical, and performative elements.

Play Block Tips:
Each block contains embedded magnets on various sides, allowing people to freely connect, mix, and arrange the blocks to build their imagined version of “home.”

The illustrations from this project were shortlisted in the Alternative Publishing Category of the World Illustration Awards 2022.  ︎ https://theaoi.com/entries/zhenyi-zheng-home-phrases/

︎Judges’ Highlights: https://theaoi.com/showcase/world-illustration-awards-2022/judges-highlights-new-talent/