In the Presence of You II
2019-2021
Collected children’s wool fabrics
Size variable
Collaboration project with Affordable Art Fair HK and Redress
The wool sweaters are not only the marks of growing up but also the blessings from family.
Beyond the collection of kids’ wool fabrics - The imprints of growing up carried by the fabrics are dismantled and reconstructed into a collective and extending connection in order to share the wishes. As we physically explore through and within the artwork, we also share each other’s warmth, join our crossing paths, regain the playtime of childhood and finally create a whole new collective experience. Everyone is invited to explore together with the children, extending the blessings, sharing every single warmest and sincerest hug right here and now.
23-year-old Hong Kong
2021
Made-in-Hong Kong sweater
49cm(l), 2cm(w), 33cm(h);
49cm(l) 2cm(w) 33cm(h)
The ship in Greek myths, wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens won numerous wars, was preserved by the Athenians to honour the heroic feat, for they replaced the old planks with new timber when one was worn or damaged. At the end, no original parts remained.
What if someone collect all the old parts and rebuild the ship elsewhere? How is the identity truly preserved?
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24-year-old Me
2021
Artist's own woollen gloves
87cm(w) x 25.5cm(l)
I disassemble my former self and observe how "I" am formed. I dismantled my childhood woollen gloves one by one and reknitted new gloves. The memory of identity is reorganizing and extended. Time is being compressed and stacked, sense of warmth is interlaced, and the body is transformed. I try to investigate how the self is presented and what is its boundary.
In the Presence of You
2019
Collected wool from family and friends
Inkjet print on paper
Single-channel video, colour, sounds
Size variable
42cm(w)x 59.4cm(l)
3’ 28”
The neps are parted from woollens; the woollens are parted from sweaters; the sweaters are parted from bodies; the bodies are parted from warmth. I collected the wool fabrics from my family and friends. The personal traces carried by the fabrics are dismantled and reconstructed into a collective connection. Hereafter, the fabrics rub the skin, generate warmth which circles between the body and the fabrics. Fabrics start to pill and neps start to appear, carrying the warmth, interweaving with one another, inadvertently.
Performance photos were taken by Olivia Jaques & Mark Li during Act Performance Festival- Zurich
In the Lack of
2018
Neps and threads from people connected with
A palm size
Berlin, Copenhagen, Geneva, Korvala, Milan, Munich, Stockholm, Vasteras, Zurich
I started missing steadiness and a place I can go back to.
I was unwillingly shifted to ten different apartments during my half-year exchange in Zurich, Switzerland due to lots of unpredictability and difficulties. The helplessness every time I moved from one place to another with all my luggage was beyond sufferable. The uncertainty before I moved into another place put me in desperation. I need a home.
For me, what builds a home is the people, the connection and relationship. I started to collect neps and threads, both silently and noticeably, from clothes of friends and strangers I met in anywhere at any time. I recognised the easy evanescence of the intangible links with people and their importance to providing comfort and steadiness. At the end of the day, it is the intimacy between two people in every single action helped me to find comfort, to connect happiness in an unfamiliar city.
So, am I home after all?
Hidden Cubicle
2015
Cloth and plaster
Set of 3: 8cm(H)x 8cm(W)x 8cm(L); 8.5cm(H)x 8.5cm(W)x 8.5cm(L); 9cm(H)x 9cm(W)x 9cm(L)