distant confluences
embroidery on voile, metal, 220 x 120 x 120 cm, 2024
Distant confluences is an installation piece, composed of a metal frame structure and two hand-stitched embroideries on voile. The work comes from the idea of a threshold territory between approximation and distance, between presence and absence.
The transparency of the fabric allows the viewer to see the back part of the stitching at the same time as the front, as well as the space around the work, since it is positioned in the middle of the room. These aspects aim to bring the idea of "in-betweeness" in which the interior and exterior are both present.
The portraits are facing opposite sides, but once one walks around the installation, the images start connecting to one another, creating the illusion that they are side by side, or looking at the same direction. It becomes a point of encounter, even if momentary.
Distant confluences at the MA Fine Art Postgraduate Show @ Camberwell College of Arts, July 2024
Distant confluences at the Converging Paths: Shared Visions exhibition @ Studio 18, Millbank, August 2024
process
sketches
Distant confluences was my project for the MA Summer Show. I wanted to create a work that demonstrated the expansion I was aiming to reach with my research, both in terms of theme and materiality. I wanted to combine the subjects I've been exploring since the beginning of the course (intimacy, touch, presence, time, etc.), at the same time I wanted to expand in scale to challenge myself, the imagery of the work and the act of embroidery itself.
The images consist of a self-portrait and a portrait of a loved one that passed away, as I wanted to give a kind of closure to the works I’ve been exploring on Unit 2, related to personal memory associated with the ephemerality of life.
Originally I thought of two ideas of display: on the wall, positioned in a corner; or hanging through the ceiling in the middle of the space. Because of the limited amount of time until the summer show, I first decided to create a two-piece work — with two layers each —, displayed in two walls to evoke this feeling of intimacy by having a semi-enclosed space (the corner of a wall). The original images were the intertwining of portraits and the intertwining of the hands of those represented.
process
process
After a tutorial with Sarah, I was encouraged to go back to my original plan to place the work in the middle of the space, as it would add more meaning to it, as if it was a curtain that doesn’t divide the space completely (because of the translucency), but instead, creates a threshold. For this, we decided that using a metal structure would allow the work to stand by itself in the space, as well as create a contrast with the flowiness characteristic of the fabric. I went to the metal workshop and received great support from George and Daniel, who helped me throughout the whole process of assembling the structure.
process at the metal workshop
To install the work, I previously tested mount spray to combine the embroidery with the metal structure, which was a solution that worked very well — recommended by my classmate Hyeyeon Chung. However, worried about the possibility of damaging the fabric with time and thinking of possibilities to make the work easier to transport/to be stored, I decided to use magnets to stretch the top part of the fabric onto the metal — idea given by former flatmate and CCI MSc student Arthur Zhang.
I was told, during the critiques with Yu Chen, that the magnets showed confidence and created a direct connection with the structure itself, which was a great feedback to reflect on different possibilities of displaying the work.
I reflect more deeply on this work and the exhibition on the Reflections of the MA Summer Show page here.
process of installation at the MA Fine Art Postgraduate Show
Later this year, I got the opportunity to exhibit this work again, in a different display method. I reflect more on this format of displaying and the exhibition on the Summer break: artist residency page here.