Arts Thread

sterling silver, goji berries, jujube, dried longan, chinese wild yam, astragalus, codonopsis This neckpiece holds the dried ingredients needed to make a single serve of my mother’s 'winter soup' recipe. The work became the first piece of my series 'Objects of Care'. This series functioned as an exploration on developing a culturally inscribed visual language that felt honest and true in communicating ideas of hybridity. Grounded in traditional Cantonese medicine practices, this work builds its vocabulary from the care and nourishment-based ritual of Bou Tong (soup making) to create an encoded dialogue available only to those who recognise and identify with its practice. Through this exclusivity, I want to foster spaces of cultural intimacy and create space within the third space that we occupy. I want to prompt a sensory connectivity that extends beyond the visual. When worn the neckpiece has a distinct aroma, playing into ideas of ‘gustatory nostalgia’. This form of nostalgia offers a window into memories that are layered and embodied. Moving beyond the desire to return to a lost home, it uses the sensory richness of a regions food to bridge past and present; an alimentary exploration of identity. I imagine this work to be a protection charm to be gifted to and from members of my community. In moments of need the wearer can pry the ingredients from their settings, soak for 30 minutes, boil and consume. In a culture where gathering to share a meal is central to connection, it is no coincidence that this ritual of nourishment becomes the password to my practice.

bronze, synthetic stone, skin copper, enamel, homemade incense This work is the second installation in my series 'Objects of Care'. I query the relationship between body and object, considering whose body it is and where that body arrived from. For diasporic bodies where does the sense of otherness acquit? Is the longing to return to an unplaceable homeland purely a feeling of fantasy or a feeling that can be satiated through connection and care for community? I want to embed Cantonese practices into my artistic practice as an embodied process of relearning and reclaiming. Working with traditions I grew up practicing with my mother; I appreciate these rituals as personal ceremonies but also a way to encode a collective experience. Within this work I turned to Gua Sha (stone scrapping therapy) and Chinese knot tying to build my visual language. Creating prosthetic like objects, I used this work to manifest an imaginary armour growing out of the back. It is as if engaging with cultural practices with gentleness and care create a transformation to a person’s self, growing into community and strength. I appreciate these practices as both a personal ritual and a way to encode a collective experience. I hope to create networks of care for our bodies who are othered.