Fine Art nominee

Scan It is inspired by China’s contemporary digital economy and social media landscape. Whether I was aware of it or not, my ideals of race and identity were shaped by and linked through social media content. In my ongoing project Scan It, I unravel the experience of being connected and marginalized. I am continuously inspired by the paradoxical presence of popular culture elements and ambiguous symbols of globalization, mixed with our mundane lives, and the QR code is a perfect symbolization of our modern life. I further investigate the ways our identities have been connected to societal expectations by combining self-portraiture with QR codes. From scanning, connecting, and alternatively isolating, I regard these QR codes as a representation of the unsearchable status that was not afforded equally to those I loved.

Sijia Ma (b. 2001 in Shenyang, China), is a visual artist based in Shanghai and MA. She is currently pursuing a B.A. in Studio Arts and Quantitative Economics at Smith College, Sijia has worked to develop image-based projects and used the language of photography to explore the complexity of today’s Chinese identity in a subtler way.

Sijia has her solo and group exhibitions in the US and abroad, including Massachusett College of Art and Design, Fordham University Gallery, International Center of Photography in New York, Houston Center for Photography, Kunstpunt Groningen in Netherland, New Era Research Institute of Photography in Beijing, Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery in England. Sijia’s images have been included in publications such as the American Photography Annual Award Book, F-Stop Magazine, Burn Magazine, and others.