300mmH
2020
Glass cup (found), Rayon-blend Washi yarn, Nylon yarn, Quilting thread, Wire
Unavailable
From the 'Tamashii' ('spirit' in Japanese) series, where I attempt to capture the abstract essence of a found object, in the belief that all objects harbour a soul.
What happens to broken objects that lose their functionality, even though they evoke certain sentiments in us? Finding an affinity with objects stuck in the limbo of 'useless' yet 'too precious to throw', I give them a second life by imagining the spirit that lives within them escaping from within; creeping out over the structure as wild nature would envelope a derelict over time.
This cup had been purchased from the Red House Theatre in Ximending 西門町, Taipei (Taiwan), greatly used and loved by owner, K. He gave it up to me after its handle broke off and became unusable.
Upon encountering this cup, I fell in love with it’s beautiful scalloped top edge and curved walls. Because it is transparent and smooth on the outside, the spirit of this small cup was a subtle, elusive one.
To coax it out, I put a light in the cup and shone it in the darkness; the refraction was astoundingly beautiful, casting a radially symmetrical shadow.
Even though I saw no colour, I felt a multi-coloured yet subdued yarn would represent the colours of refracted light well. Inspired by the symmetrical shadows, I created a simple lace reminiscent of the Phallus Indusiatus. The curved glass handle was a perfect invisible skeleton in its lattice shell peeking out of the cup, while the hole it left in its body decided its fate as a hanging piece.
The transparent yarn makes this piece a seemingly silent one; yet when faced with a light, a sinewy shadow is cast from the lace, much like the understated cup it inhabits.