高胜寒 Shenghan Gao (b. Chengdu, China) forages from many disciplines such as dance, history, film, and cooks with mediums such as 16mm film, cyanotypes, animation, social experiments, performance, participatory workshops, walking tours. She is interested in unlearning all the systems of belief that settler colonialism and capitalism have instilled in us, starting from the most mundane units of our lives: the names we call ourselves, the food we cook, the steps we dance in, and the "weeds" we walk by everyday. Every encounter is a portal to reimagine how we can root differently together.

She has been nurturing an educational nonprofit "UnLearning求知计划" in China for five years, and has been awarded the Flaherty Film Seminar fellowship and Asian American Arts Alliance's "What Can We Do" grant.

She holds a BA in History and Arts from Minerva University and is now pursuing a MA in Media Studies, Documentary Certificate at the New School.

She is also an alum from UWC Atlantic College.

Captured on film camera in the afternoon light, Shenghan smiles in front of an intersection with some scooters behind her. She has long hair and bangs.

PROJECT : INVASIVE KIN

This project, Invasive Kin, is a series of public engagements exploring the entangled relationships between migration, plants, and belonging—centering the experiences of first- and second-generation East Asian immigrants in New York City. Through walking plant tours, community workshops, and interdisciplinary panels, I aim to create spaces where we can learn about, build relationships with, and honor the resilient plant species that—like us—have migrated across oceans, borders, and rooted themselves in unfamiliar soil.

Image description: 12 cyanotype prints of mugwort at different stages of its growing season hang on a white wall. They form a 4*3 rectangle shape.