Qew Shi- BA (Hons) Fashion
13 beaded protection
My collection found its beginnings in beads given to me by my grandma, beads that she had prayed upon in the temple, an action which channeled energy, creating a means of protection and peace keeping. This led me to explore this idea of the items around us which become precious to us through the energy we imbue into them. At the same time it is a commentary on our current society's obsession with material goods and the spiritual deficit that presides in the western culture as a result of the slow loss of possession rituals. My study into ancient chinese burial items showed me depictions of cheerful people gathered on horses playing instruments, two people sat across from one another engaged in a board game, acrobats helping each other;what do we have to learn from these figures, from an ancient civilisation that operated before mass media, advertisements and mass production? That when we shed our material self, perhaps all that matters is fun, things that fuel our souls, togetherness. Through my textile led sculptural practise, I attempt to materialise
this ghostly inbetween world where our value systems toward the material goods is muddy, mapping out a purgatory in which these burial items might have loomed, holding onto their messages for eternity. To achieve this, I chose to work mainly with materials considered waste, such as deadstock tweed, unwanted clothes and production surplus down feathers. By putting focus on waste, I’m able to push trash into glamour, to make aware what we value and how that perception can be shifted so easily. In this world nothing is solid, we’re in an in-between space where the state of materiality is unstable, items we would usually perceive aren’t what they seem to be.
