rainstick: raincoat
For this project, we first developed a vision by researching through our eyes. Previously, I had been in the library and came across a series of books about felting. I loved the way I could morph the fibers together to create a large patch of fabric or to pile them into floral shapes. After learning about his technique, I decided to visit the Botanical Garden in Brooklyn to look at flowers. However, because it was still cold, there weren’t any to look at. Instead, got really inspired by the Bonsai trees I saw, I loved the way the contours would wind in a whimsical way. I decided to take the winding nature of the bonsai trees and mimic it in the fibers of the wool.
For this project, we first developed a vision by researching through our eyes. Previously, I had been in the library and came across a series of books about felting. I loved the way I could morph the fibers together to create a large patch of fabric or to pile them into floral shapes. After learning about his technique, I decided to visit the Botanical Garden in Brooklyn to look at flowers. However, because it was still cold, there weren’t any to look at. Instead, got really inspired by the Bonsai trees I saw, I loved the way the contours would wind in a whimsical way. I decided to take the winding nature of the bonsai trees and mimic it in the fibers of the wool.
For this project, we first developed a vision by researching through our eyes. Previously, I had been in the library and came across a series of books about felting. I loved the way I could morph the fibers together to create a large patch of fabric or to pile them into floral shapes. After learning about his technique, I decided to visit the Botanical Garden in Brooklyn to look at flowers. However, because it was still cold, there weren’t any to look at. Instead, got really inspired by the Bonsai trees I saw, I loved the way the contours would wind in a whimsical way. I decided to take the winding nature of the bonsai trees and mimic it in the fibers of the wool.
storytelling through fashion
letters to you
2023
“Letters to You” is an extension of my thoughts and emotions: each piece inspired by the emotional journey captured in my journal entries.
I used to think that the feeling of holding my breath every week was normal. Wasn’t that just the grind? I would have this foggy, out of body experience as I watched myself pretend to be happy, to seem okay. Things always seem fine when it’s all you know. But, there was a new lightness in my shoulders when I was finally able to admit to myself that I was the reason for my unhappiness, that there was no reason to pretend for anyone else.
Through this journal, I began to fill the gaps of my childhood that I was so used to numbing away. Slowly, the corners of my mind that were shrouded in mystery came to life as I put pen to paper.
Through screen printing, digital printing, weaving and fraying, I translate the tedious and obsessive nature of my writing and illustrate how each day, the weight I was holding on my shoulders chipped away who I really was.
The tailored and draped silhouettes are drawn directly from specific moments of this emotional journey. Whether that is a tailored look that depicts how I used to dress in an attempt to belong, or the draped look that illustrates the lightness and openness one feels after coming out of the fog.
VIDEO: We often deliberately hide the truth from ourselves because it is too painful to express it verbally. I wrote a letter addressed to my mother where I reveal everything that is too difficult for me to admit. I have deconstructed the letter into an incomprehensible list of words before asking her to read it aloud.
IMAGE:
look one:
A frayed cotton swatch pulled to illustrate the grid of my montly calendar.
The pulled threads were later layed one by one on water soluble fabric and sewn across to develop my own grid lace.
look two:
A digital printed silk swatch of the pages of my journal entries and monthly calendar.
A frayed and gathered cotton overlayed on top.
look three:
A silkscreened cotton swatch, printed with an grid overlay.
A frayed cotton swatch pulled in a plaid pattern.
this place I can call home
2022
In an unfamiliar place that those who surround me call home. Stepping foot on the grounds of the city, crossing paths every day with old and new faces, but not one giving a me a reason to stay. Head barely above water, wearing my life jacket, just floating by. I was unwilling to become a stranger to my past in the States. I knew if I made this place home, it would make it that much harder to leave it behind. Thanks to my mom, who encouraged me to let people in and to the friends who made it easy, I don't need to wear my life jacket anymore. I've built a boat big enough enough to carry the family I found here. And I know it can always take me back to this place I can call home.
記得剛來到這個地方時，原本只打算短暫停留幾個月，所以打從心底我就像是個背著皮囊的過客不想完全融入這。雖然我每天忙著穿梭在忙碌的大街小巷，見到不同的臉孔，心裹總覺得這個城市很陌生沒有任何一個角落腳得我留下來。可是一日過一日，等我慢慢熟悉這個城市漸漸的喜歡上它時，我心理又害怕面對那天要背著我的行囊暫時離開這個會落腳的地方。還好有媽媽的鼓勵以及熱心朋友們的支持，我才有辦法卸下心裏的恐懼和一直背在身上的行囊，讓我完完全全的融入這裡，把這裡成為我第二個可以安心落腳的地方。
My color inspiration is drawn directly from moments I spent at school, on the volleyball court, and exploring
the mountains and ocean during the two years I spent in Taipei, Taiwan. My designs consist of several silhouettes that represent different stages in my transition of moving and settling.
LOOK ONE:
I use strips of knit fabric woven into a puffy knit vest to illustrate the sense of insecurity that I experienced as I tried to patch myself up. The large "inflated" knit and draping fabric below echo the only means I had to keep myself afloat.
LOOK TWO:
I use color and large drapes of knit to illustrate the stage where I had opened myself up to others without the feeling of regret. White hand stitched cross marks on my trousers indicate the multiple paths I had crosse to get to that point.
LOOK THREE:
A vest made up of parallel stripes of knit fabric hugs the body ontop of a very large knit skirt- comforter. Large strips of knit fabric are woven thorugh and act as a drawstring that gathers the fabric into a skirt. Green hand stitched tick marks that form wandering lines illustrate the paths that I have walked with the people that made this place somewhere I can call home.
One of the most important lessons I learned while living in Taiwan was to go with the flow: similar to how life has its ups and downs, a day spent surfing can be an exhilarating high or full of wipe outs.
IMAGE :
receding ocean waves
IMAGE :
Picasso CAD Machine Knitting Software Jacquard Code
torn
2021
What's your version of a dystopia?
Imagine having exactly what you needed for the past three years. A harmony between who you have grown to love and who you have loved your whole life. Being able to share memories with him and them, it's like they finally accepted. But, maybe it was all pretend. And the world you were all building together tears right in front of your eyes. That's my dystopia. When my when my mind wanders into its' darkest corners, it feels like I might be living it.
This is how I am surviving it.
