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Mixed Media
[ 2019 - 2020 ]
Aristotle calls the inherent purpose of each thing, living and inanimate, its telos. As humans, our telos is defined by our desire to fulfill our potential–be that whatever it may be. For this project, I explored how my own telos’ changes through my life as represented by a red string. My soulmate tied at the other end, rather than a romantic love, is my true potential-fulfilling purpose.
I challenged myself to create a linear series of works with a variety of mediums, utlizing the red thread as a unifying visual theme.
Oil on canvas panel
8 x 10 inches
Typically, the red thread is depicted as being tied from pinky finger to pinky finger, though other versions have it bound via the ankle.
With this first painting I wanted to portray how my initial purpose was defined by what my parents bestowed. Older, veiny hands tie a red string to an infant’s pinky–tying it to a preconceived destiny, an imagined potential, a blank slate no more.
Acrylic on canvas, red shoelaces
11 x 14 inches
The second painting shows a change from my telos being defined by my parents view to being influenced by my older brother’s path. The envy and insecurity of a younger sibling is displayed in a pair of literally too-big shoes with the red thread as the laces.
I chose to paint my brother’s favorite pair of shoes at the time: the all white Adidas Calabassas in a size 13. The only thing missing is his quadruple tied knots.
Gouache on paper
12 x 9 inches
Cat’s cradle, a game I first learned from my great-aunt as a toddler and fell in love with. She was the only one who could keep up with me in the game, navigating traps and seemingly dead-ends with patience.
The red thread, sewn through the hands, is pulled and tested. Escape from what Vonnegut’s Hoenikker calls a meaningless tangle of string requires a sacrifice of skin–giving up a piece of yourself.
To create reference images, I did actually sew red string through layers of (fake) skin and pull them off.
Oil on canvas
12 x 12 inches
In the fifth grade, I woke up for school and found a family friend and her daughter sleeping in my mom’s bed in her place. She had rushed early to the hospital to see to my great-aunt who was undergoing cancer treatment at the time.
After spending some time in a hospital in N.C., she decided to return to China after being unable to visit in years. She ended up passing away shortly after returning to her home. Growing up, my great-aunt was the one taking care of my brother and I while my parents worked. All my fondest memories of childhood are with her.
While waiting for the school bus, that family friend, her daughter, and I played Chinese jump rope on the sidewalk corner. I remember feeling that my life had diverged down an unexpected and irreversible direction.
Jute cord
18 x 19 x 12 inches
Embroidery, Cotton, Wood
10 inches