A medium we encounter in daily life, textile appeals with its familiarity and tactility, harbouring within its labour-intensive creation a sense of time and history. Witnessing the destruction of a defenceless and fragile object, emotions of loss and regret surface, forcing the viewer to confront the sentimentality of human existence.
This notion of ‘sacrifice' in my work is borne from the belief in Equilibrium on Earth— a balance of energies, and Yin-Yang, where two opposing energies form a whole. The fibres of natural yarn "hold" energy given by farmers and artisans. Intricate lace is the result of hundreds of hours of focused making. When these energies are sacrificed in destruction, we receive, fleetingly, emotions that remind us of the ephemeral quality of life. Despite being inanimate forms, these artworks gain ‘life’ and evoke empathy as they evolve, for that is evidence of passing time— encompassing existence itself.
“Do you see how an act is not... like a rock that one picks up and throws, and it hits or misses, and that’s the end of it. When that rock is lifted, the earth is lighter; the hand that bears it heavier. When it is thrown, the circuits of the stars respond, and where it strikes or falls, the universe is changed... All these act within the Equilibrium... all they do is done within the balance of the whole.
Life rises out of death, death rises out of life, in being opposite they yearn to each other, they give birth to each other and are forever reborn.”
Such ideas represent the amorphous duality we often confront in life, which are yet contrarily confined to binary terms by Language. With a consistent interest in the dual nature of each subject, my work prompts viewers to question their personal perceptions outside of the common consensus.