Support and Repair
2024 / Dyed muslin, stuffing, wood, thread, beads / 13 x 13 x 12”
My great-grandfather saw his life's work taken from him during the Cultural Revolution. A pioneer in repairing old historical architecture, he preserved Chinese history.
This sculpture pays homage to his legacy. The stuffed, handmade temple structure is fragile, soft, and in need of repair. It’s surrounded by bamboo scaffolding – a traditional support system used to support decaying temples – a decades-old practice that I witnessed being continually utilized in China today.
A visual metaphor and a parallel of my family history, my soft sculpture leans on the bamboo scaffolding – an ancient yet reliable repairing mechanism for generations to come.
Found Legacy
2024 / Charcoal on stained paper / 60 x 32”
A rendering of my family's lost legacy - collaged archival references of my great-grandfather’s architecture firm and his project restoring the decaying Temple of Heaven in Beijing.
At the bottom of the composition, I depict rows of garments hanging on racks, reflecting the history of Chinese immigrants in America who survived by running dry cleaning businesses. Like the Terracotta Army in Xi’an – some statues headless – each garment serves as a uniform, echoing the collective.
The dissonance between Chinese modernism during the Cultural Revolution and the preservation of Chinese history is mirrored in my family’s story.
Support and Repair
2025 / Bamboo, string, paper, ink / 31 x 22 x 15”
illustration