This art installation was created for the reopening of the GUCCI Flagship store at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands Singapore, and is also the first in-store Artwall display in South Asia Pacific. Inspired by the unexpected urban intervention to natural elements, the work of art implements the use of different materials and techniques playing with lights and shadows.
The combination of traditional filet lace crochet customised with the “GG” monogram and reflective glass mosaic tiles juxtapose to the décor of the store, creating the refined illusion of a floating wall. The result is a space that entices surprises and feels personal to Gucci.

Watching the GUCCI Aria video featuring the collection of the same name, I wanted to recreate the feeling of escape, lightness and freedom, which I felt especially in the last scene where the doors of the room open to welcome a sliver of light, leading into a terrestrial paradise. In my interpretation, the window in the middle appears to emanate daylight, drawing you into another world that lies mysterious behind the filet lace crochet curtain. It symbolises an exit from this urban city and beckons us into the natural world, already creeping through to us.

This piece is one of contrasts— the intricate filet crochet lace borne from precision and planned design, against the large, freestyle crochet forms; tiles representing the manmade against the ‘natural forms’ inspired by wild plants.

My research in antique crochet patterns and interest in recreating them simply through worded instructions (how women in the past used to learn) led to the inclusion of the filet crochet curtain, which also echoes the vintage edge in Gucci's collections. Customised production was common back in the day through various textile crafts compared to the mass production we now see; in the past, makers included personal poetry, dates, and initials as part of the fabric. My choice of the Gucci monogram incorporated into an antique lace 'portiere' pattern was a nod to this; the luxury that used to exist even in everyday items.

A large part of my work is inspired by the recklessness of nature; wild creepers and moss taking over derelicts and urban structures. This to me, shows the true strength of Mother Nature as she embraces and reclaims what we have made, showing the impermanence of humans. The freestyle crochet forms were created to fill in the gaps between the islands, much like how plants burrow their way through the tiniest of cracks as they find their own space. These crocheted forms hold the tiled islands together, making them one.

Textile surplus from the GUCCI Aria collection was also used to create this installation. The leftover fabric was stripped up, and then crocheted into the work adding distinctly-Gucci pops of colour and shimmer.