Enamel

“Countless red threads covered the ground like intricate lace. Interwoven in the red strings were thousands and thousands of small clay figures, each no longer than her finger; like a spider, in the exact center, sat the Old Man of the Moon.
He sat cross-legged, with a giant book on his lap. His head was bowed over two clay figures in his hand, so that the most that Minli saw of him was the top of his head. But she could see his delicate, wrinkled hands, skillfully tying the figures in his lap together with a red thread.”

Excerpt from: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Grace Lin

The idea of the red thread forms the inspiration of this piece based on Chinese mythology and is also referred to as the ‘Red Thread of Fate’. This interconnectedness can be considered a form of slow intimacy in many different ways; the intimacy between a book and its reader, the intimacy of maturing and the intimacy in relationships. The slow intimacy lies between myself and the content of the book that has stayed with me from childhood into early adulthood and has influenced my relationships with others and myself. The imagery and colours in the piece is my own representation of that in the book, aiming to create a harmony between the reader and the story.
The frame acts as a stage for the story told in the book and that of the creator of the piece to take place. The image of the child and the red thread further connects to this idea of intimacy of maturing with a story as well as the connections made throughout that time. It is in this way that the piece acts as an object of nostalgia and a window into a story still connected to me and still being told as referenced by the red thread.

Enamel on Copper, Sterling Silver, Red Thread, Steel Wire