Mingyin(Tina) Qi

The Gerridae is a mixed-media trilogy in which I bring together relief printmaking and lithography with a meditation on fragility and survival. Inspired by water striders, which skate across water supported by surface tension alone, the work reflects our own precarious relationship with nature. One disruption, and everything collapses.

I depicted creatures clinging to the ruins of drowned cities, twisting into themselves, with mutated wings pushing against a blood-red sky in a final act of resistance. These beings are mirrors of our unraveling.

The Gerridae grew layer by layer from my own feelings of disturbance—a constant quiet anxiety about a world that seems to be on the brink of collapse. But as I created its textures, I also discovered a sense of resilience. Even in decay, there is rebirth. Even amid ruins, something flickers. This trilogy isn’t just a warning—it’s more of a reflection on my ability to persist. What is broken may still pulse and breathe; in creating my work, I try to listen to those sounds.