Like many Chinese households, Jenny Zhe Chang's family comes together to celebrate the Lunar New Year, marking a new beginning and a chance to move on from the past.
"We get together on that day and make dumplings first," she says.
This year, Chang's desire to share the "blessing" of her community's cultural tradition has inspired her to transform an inner-Melbourne library space with a vibrant display of red lantern curtains.
The Melbourne-based contemporary artist's exhibition is partly a 10th birthday celebration for the library at Docklands, as well as a homage to the intricate relationship of the East and the West.
Once a migrant from Beijing, Chang arrived in 1988 and didn't start her artistic career until later in life.
She quickly realised how her background differentiated her from fellow artists during her time at the Victorian College of the Arts.
"Language is my weak point," she says.
"Everyone else could express precisely what they feel."
The barrier didn't stop her from sharing the ideas of "kindness and humility" through her artworks.
"If I can use my strength to understand the Chinese philosophy and share my thinking and let more people understand what we know … that's how I will contribute [to the community]," she says.
Festive and grand. That is what the Lunar New Year represents to most, but Chang wants us to know there's more to it.
Not just knowing, but understanding
Chang says Chinese culture is so widespread that it's difficult to miss.
Yum cha, for example — the Cantonese way of doing brunch that embodies communal sharing — is familiar to many Australian families, regardless of their background.
Chang says the challenge is to understand what these practices mean, and not just experience them.
Real bamboo steamers, like the ones used for serving dim sum, are attached to her lanterns as a form of "sharing love", while their rounded shape symbolises the closeness felt when a family of "three to four generations" are seated at rounded tables during yum cha.
"So it's not really the food … that's only part of it," Chang says.
Entirely handmade, the body of the lantern is made of orange safety mesh and is painted red, while red pockets with the Chinese character 福 (fu) are hung underneath.
The iconic word means good fortune, a wish Chang hopes to give to the Docklands library that has been providing a safe place of knowledge-sharing for a diverse community.
Chang wants to see people being inclined to "contribute more" to public spaces, and not only to places that fit to a person's cultural circle.
"It doesn't matter, Eastern or Western, we show kindness to each other," she says.
Devoting time to reflect
The artist explains that the origins for Lunar New Year's celebrations stretch back 2,000 years.
"It's a time where people reflect [on] the past year and think about the future, 'Should I plant the wheat or the rice?', or rest for the next move," she says.
This principle has been woven into her work, with suspended mirrors hanging beneath the 10 lanterns, to reflect on each of the library's years of community service.
It took two months to put together and set up.
During that period, Chang has built love and appreciation for the narrow space between the glass walls that overlook the docks, a site she did not choose but was assigned to.
"The mirror reflects the boats and the water, which becomes part of the artwork," she says.
"I feel I gave my best for this space, and [in return] the space gives me something better."
One Chinese proverb Chang holds close to her heart is 上善若水 (Shang Shan Ruo Shui), a traditional saying that describes water as being "the highest form of good", according to Taoism teaching.
"If I'm humble enough like water, I can go anywhere … no boundaries, no limit," Chang says.
Above all, it promotes the idea of devoting time to being physically and emotionally present within the environment despite feeling out of place.
"This core value [of being present] has been lost in contemporary life … we should recall back the value and incorporate them [wherever we are]."
Beyond the festive season
Chang says she hopes to see more Chinese artworks beyond the Lunar New Year season.
"If more people see it, the more people can learn about our culture," she says.
It's the Year of the Dragon – the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac – and everyone expects something "grand and graceful".
But Chang says that expectation often creates a facade that dilutes other understandings of why a new year truly matters.
The origins of lanterns go far back to the Han Dynasty in 206 BCE to 220 CE.
"Lanterns were used during the dark for people to see the track," Chang explains.
They symbolise the clearing of paths and a way to move forward together while sharing the light to others around you.
"I think there are a lot of things we never have an opportunity to share [or know] how to share it," Chang says.
But she believes her lanterns are a good start.
Jenny Zhe Chang's 'Sharing Light and Love through Blessings' is at The Library at the Dock until February 18.