Xiaoyu Chen

"Untitled"

Section MS2, Kelly Spanou

Keywords: materials, memory, family

For my Media Studies project, I made a piece of textile, compiling family memories through weaving patterns. In doing so, I explore notions of longing, memory and sensoriality informed by our conversations with my mother and grandmother who were both keen weavers. For my mother, the most important piece of clothing is a handmade burgundy suit jacket, that was given to her as a birthday present by my grandmother. They both recall the process of weaving this jacket, an object of special value for my family. Inspired by this, I re-enacted this process of making the jacket, where I have imagined weaving as a form of memory. Memory is like a line, connecting people together, forming a network of memories. Each node produces an entanglement among people. If one wants to return to the past, they can only use the invisible trace of memory to recollect. Compiling family memories with colours, materials, patterns, geometry, forms and shapes, this project aims to revive memory and transform it into a tangible yet abstract object.