With a rich imagery that alternates between the cold coast of north-west England, the noisy rush hour traffic of Shanghai and the lush Chinese landscape of bamboo forests and rocky mountains in Guangxi Province, Ten Thousand Waves represents a new form of cinematic storytelling. On nine screens, Julien shows a kind of parallel montage, which invites the audience to wander around the work, discover it and interact with it in new ways.

Ten Thousand Waves encompasses several poetically interwoven layers and stories. From the police helicopter footage of the fateful night in Morecambe Bay to the sea goddess Mazu, patron of fishermen and shipwrecked, via 1930s Shanghai, Julien's montage takes us through interlocking layers of Chinese culture, history and mythology.

By connecting the present with the past, Julien's work explores the migration of people across continents and countries. "I asked myself why people travel from China to the UK to pick clams," says Julien in an interview, "What is the motive? How far are you prepared to go to achieve a better life?”. The work also touches on the story of the artist's parents, who came from the Caribbean by boat across the Atlantic to search for a better life in Great Britain. “This is a very personal work. Labor migration is being debated a lot right now, which I don't think is very kind to people who are looking for a better life. I wanted to make a work that could be a kind of vindication.”

Size: 19.69"W 27.56"H (50x70 cm)

Printed on 170g FSC-certified paper.