Threading ethnic background into the work (from a-n)

 

I noticed several artworks with stitching were curated in a way that had their backs exposed. The messiness of the stitches were visible to the viewer. I took this and included it in my next work, which is a made up Adobe Illustrator diagram that is printed onto card. I then threaded red thread as part of this diagram.

I used red thread because of the East Asian concept of the red string of fate, where people who are romantically meant to be together are destined to be together regardless of circumstances, but I’m applying it to say that everyone in the universe is connected, be it in relationships, friendships, conversations, and random happenings. It’s called yuan fen, which is a mysterious serendipitous force that connects people and events.

I’ve made a mock up of what it would look like as an installation. It’s good practice to think about how one’s work would translate to something more ambitious. I’m conscious that I can’t lean into the concept of the red threads any further, because I’m wary that it would resemble Chiharu Shiota’s work. I’ve actually encountered her installation at the Japan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale back in 2015.

So, knowing this limitation, it would be more sensible to lean into the diagrammatic pseudoscientific visual language more, but at the same time not shy away from using red string. If anything, it’s saying we both share East Asian heritage. The concept of red string is prevalent in several East Asian countries. This is where it is the same, but the difference is the visual language, where Shiota uses in a poetic way, but I use it as a more clinical, pseudoscientific way.

I would prefer using red wires instead, actually, because I like the metaphor of the wires being a vessel for energy. But it would have to be attached to the diagrams.

I named the title of my work, mOtherland. This was accidental. I had difficulty coming up with a title, because it was the occasion of nothing clicking. I then thought of things like ‘homeland diagrams’, and ‘diagrams of the motherland’, but wasn’t feeling it, I didn’t feel chemistry with the titles. As I typed motherland and saw the letters visually, I stuck to my previous idea of a book I wrote, not anOther autobiography, and capitalised the O for other. From there, mOtherland was born.