Knitting
This collection explores contrasting narratives of immersion through textile art. "Edward Was a Kid" interrogates the origins of monstrosity, reimagining the infamous figure Edward Gein's traumatic childhood through a lens that is paradoxically colorful yet unsettling. "Sink in Water" draws from both cinematic fantasy and personal memory, translating the dual sensations of terrifying submersion and mystical underwater allure into tactile form. Together, the pieces delve into how formative experiences—be they psychological or physical—shape identity, using the medium of fiber to evoke complex emotions and blurred realities.
Keywords
Textile Art / Fiber Art
Psychological Narrative
Childhood Trauma
Immersion
Monstrosity and Innocence
Tactile Memory
Biographical Abstraction
Part1
Edward was a kid
Edward Gein is one of the most famous serial killers in the world in the last century. Some famous movies' characters are based on him such as the Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. Is Edward Gein born Like a serial killer? No, he once was a kid who was also pure and simple. People usually focus on how cruel he was as a serial killer, accounting how many people he killed; judging what unbearable things he did, but they always ignore how he became a serial killer or what made him be Like this. My collection would bring people back to Edward's childhood to witness his life before he started killing. Here, he is not a serial killer any more, he is just a poor kid suffering from domestic violence, school bully and his mom's abnormal education...Colorful but uncomfortable, cute but creepy.
Part2
Sink in water
My inspiration came from the movie The Shape of Water. It's a story between a mute cleaner and a beast who lives in the water. The cleaner called Elisa found and saved that Beast "The Asset", she sprouted gills and went to live in the ocean with him together at the end. I was attracted by the look of the Beast. His whole body is black with some shining blue spots and it has a beautiful texture with many different kinds of shapes arranged neatly together. While watching the movie, there was a scene which reminded me of an unforgettable experience in my childhood. In the movie, two people embraced and sank into the water slowly. I sank into the water once, different from the movie, mine was scary and fast. I really liked going to the swimming pool when I was a child. At that time, I was 8 years old. Compared with submerging in the shallow-water area, I preferred going to the deep-water area with a swim ring. Once my uncle took me and his daughter to the deep-water area. I was so excited and not worried about the depth of the water because I think the swim ring will 100% make me float on the water safely. My cousin was so scared of the water and she cried, my uncle went to comfort her without paying attention to me. Just at that moment, I slipped out of the swim ring and sank deeper and deeper in the water. I tried my best to paddle with my arms, but it didn't work. I felt the water come into my mouth and nose and filled in my whole head like hundreds of needles stabbing it. I wish I could grow the gills immediately to breathe and drain the water out of my head. Without wearing the swimming goggles, I couldn't see anything but darkness. A sense of fear came from my deep mind, I felt there were many giant beasts around me and something dragging my ankles into the deep ocean. Suddenly, two real hands caught me and pulled me up out of the water. It's the lifeguard. I was saved. Though I can swim very well today, I still can't forget that scariest memory in my childhood.