Sun Haili’s original Face Washing took place in June 2004 in Paris—during the artist’s “self-exile” from the East—when he felt the urge to wash his face in the Seine River. From then on, no matter which country, city or area he passes through—from politically sensitive areas, mythical lakes, to the Atlantic Ocean or the South China Sea—Sun recorded his “dialogue” with the local waters in photographs and videos.
The concept of the work gradually grew with his experience and has become a lifelong behavior.
Through the artist's individual experience of scrubbing the texture of his skin, his work conveys a sense of unease, pain, and exile: an underlying inner fear and the never-ending escape.