2 Mahayana Buddhism is one of the two main branches of Buddhism that focus on community enlightenment towards nirvana. The other side of the traditional ceremony is the memory of family time together: whispers of prayer, children's laughter, relaxed conversation with neighbors, the dramatic sound of firecrackers. The room is held together by the smell of burning paper, lit candles and incense.
To activate the memory in a strange space, I bring the scent to the gallery. Five pieces of pre-smoked, translucent fabric are hung from the beam on top of the ceiling. As viewers approach the piece and attempt to enter the space, they are forced to gently lift the edge of the soft, silky fabric as the scent of the incense enters their noses.
As the viewer crosses the hanging fabric and enters the other side of the space to continue the show, the smell persists as they enter and leave the room. The fabric acts as the carrier of the scent and the material to divide the space while the scent of the incense is perfumed on fabric. I'm hoping that implementing smell attached to the space will trigger a memory when a similar smell is revisited.
It is like a tree shedding leaves for the coming bloom, the weathering and scars remain as they are part of the tree's foundations.
Family
As the eldest child, she took care of the family and seven younger siblings not related by blood. Conflicts arose when the life my mother expected did not match my grandmother's ideas. The freedom my mother chose in her career is a step away from similar outdated traditions.
Giving up on my grandmother's wishes for her to be a housewife, my mother did everything she could to please everyone. The dirt on the surface of the shoes and the positioning means the lack of a woman's body. Each strand of 4 hairs was carefully implanted into the back of the hard plastic slippers.
My mother's simple quality slippers echo the sacrifice of herself for her children by forgoing luxury. As the patriarch and eldest son in the family, my father had always been the core of the family. Financially and physically, he has borne the burden of being responsible for the well-being of the clan from his parents to his siblings and finally to his own family.
But now that less of the family gets together and events are less frequent, her personal fulfillment is diminishing. The south of China is like the south of the United States with sultry summers. Eventually the salt water crystallized on the clothes as a representation of the salt crystals from sweat and tears gathering on my father's clothes.
For my father, his love is unseen and unheard, it is a silent commitment of financial and physical provision. Our love is self-evident, unconditional, as Mom and Dad strive to provide for me. Dear family.” standing in a delicate pose under the soft light pouring through the large transparent windows.
It was then applied to the metal frame of the furniture we had years ago. However, as a woman she reinforced this idea and perpetuated these values by becoming part of the problem.
Home
I am fortunate to have found the most supportive group of friends who became my new family when I was away from the original home. The sudden loss creates a great 'pull' on me, as my mother and the rest of the family were in great grief. Knowing my mother's truth allows me to continue to focus on studying while making me feel more guilty for not being there.
They say that when someone dies, they come back like an insect to visit their loved ones for the last time. The laughter he had and the hug he gave me in the dream helped me recover from the sadness. The lint from the dryer preserved the little things from our bodies that are lost every day.
At the same time, it is a catalyst for the idea that things come and go in our lives. Later, I began collecting lint from the local area to serve as a farewell to Alfred as a collection of our loss. The display of lint signifies personality and information about the house, and even the time of year.
Some are pet lovers; some have children in the house with brightly colored clothes that create soft and comfortable fluff; some don't clean lint right after the laundry so it can build up. When fluff was put together and ironed down into a piece of fabric, it became an archive from the past. Seen from a distance, the vivid warm colors at the front of the larger piece of fluff attract the viewer's attention.
Attracted to lighter colors, shades of other fabrics are dimmed and darker. By creating this work, it is my farewell to the place and the people in this moment, before I go in search of what I am looking for. My family on the other side of the dragon continues to act as a strong and solid foundation for my journey.
The things I do and the things I leave behind allow me to pursue what I'm looking for. All we do is say goodbye, we have to let go of the past to take a step towards the future.
