Project 1: Your Body is a Battleground - Mood boards & Inspirations
This project was initially inspired by my mother. At the end of 2017, my mother was diagnosed with an early stage of ovarian cancer. I witnessed the entire process of my mother becoming a strong brave woman as she fought and overcame her illness.
The project is inspired by mother's journey, I want to raise awareness of feminism and pay homage to the bravery of women who are living and fighting gynecological diseases. Through these mood boards and researches, I want to show core ideas like excision, gender neutrality, stitching, the spread of cancer cells and battle.
Artists referenced: Damien Hirst, Barbara Kruger
Project 1: Your Body is a Battleground - Fabric Manipulations
This collection contains fabric manipulations which were based on photographs of human bodies. I removed certain parts of the bodies on the photographs to demonstrate the wounds after medical operations and excision of organs. I used various manipulations to show the stitches from medical operations and the recovery.
Project 1: Your Body is a Battleground - Sculptures
The collection of sculptures contains 5 pieces where their shapes were extracted from a series of close-up photographs I took of my mother, I draped the extracted shapes from the photographs with x-ray films and transformed them into different sculptures. They look-fragile but meanwhile-appearing-strong qualities that resonate with the theme of the project.
There is also a model at the left which is a collage of textiles I created as a dress to show the variety and potential of these textiles.
Project 1: Your Body is a Battleground - Sculptures
Project 1: Your Body is a Battleground - Final Garment Development & Construction
The materials of this garment are from my mother’s x-ray films and all the other textiles are compounded by me. On the left, I captured the initial design from different angles, inspired by Julia Lohmann’s Oki Naganode’s fluid shapes and the details was developed gradually through the construction process. In the left top section, I’ve displayed the work-in-progress photographs and fashion illustrations to show my considerations of applying things to the sculptural piece.
Project 1: Your Body is a Battleground - Final Garment Outcome
Project 1: Your Body is a Battleground - Final Garment Outcome Close-ups
This page displays close-up details of the final garment. Exquisite details such as the connecting link of the collar, the mixed-media front panel and armor-like dress juxtaposed with a delicate zip line. By including a circular fish tank with water, the light passing through the water and glass bowl reflects the shape of my mother’s spine clearly on the dress.
Project 2: I Like Us Better When We Are Wasted - Mood board & Samples
This project was mainly created from typical feminine objects such as different tones of stockings, nail polish, and fake eyelashes. The aim of this project was to question the existing sexual objectification of females in today’s society by displaying female sexual organs as well as advocating that sex should be embraced by people, we should embrace the joy from it by demonstrating in various sexual fetishes.
Project 2: I Like Us Better When We Are Wasted - Vagina Samples
This slide focuses on vaginas, which have been largely sexually objectified. Also, there’s still a common social taboo of women’s sexual organs and many women in the world today are ashamed of them. I used various stereotypical feminine objects such as fake nails, eyelashes to illustrate this phenomenon and advocating women should be proud of their “little sisters”.
Project 2: I Like Us Better When We Are Wasted - Samples
I displayed 8 samples that individually represent a certain type of sexual fetish, most of them were from my personal preference and experiences. None of them directly represent them, but subtly hints at them. In this collection, I tried to maintain a balance between visual storytelling and sexual implications.
Project 2: I Like Us Better When We Are Wasted - Final Lineup & Close-ups
I continued experimenting with the stockings and constructed more samples on the mini mannequin, by adding the self-made slime on the main body, it gives the dripping, sensual, and sexual sense which strongly resonates with the theme. In total, I made five models, after taking a photo of each one, I directly drew extended details and outlines onto the model with markers and nail polish to form the final lineup.
Project 3: Rescue Who? - Mood boards
I took my difficult experience in learning beach lifesaving in Wales as an inspiration. This mood board shows my fear in learning lifesaving to illustrate this hard-core intensive activity as well as my frustrated mental state of exposing myself in a completely new, overwhelming and challenging environment.
Project 3: Rescue Who? - Mood boards & Samples
I used sarcasm to illustrate this unforgettable experience which showed both my creative thinking and proficient art techniques.
I chose materials including lace were very soft and vulnerable multifunctional accessories inspired by coral rocks, which were my biggest fear in learning lifesaving to illustrate this intensive activity and my mental state of frustration. I used bright yellow as a color throughout this project because I think it resonates with the “warning” color of lifeguards. The other dominate color “grey” refers to the “depressing” coral rocks.
Project 3: Rescue Who? - Studio & Seaside shots
By actually demonstrating the accessories on myself, the various functions are clearly shown. The lace was Not only for creating collections of sea rocks but also created fins and a massive “bubble” shaped multifunctional bag. From the installation and arrangements of the accessories, the helplessness and frustration I felt in the sea were shown. There are three photographs were actually taken by the Atlantic Sea, I used the sea rocks as a background to create contrast with the softness of lace and the insignificance of myself.
Standing in waves I see, Mixed Media Painting
This mixed media painting derived from the first project of my portfolio and the third project combined aesthetically. By painting the garment I created with myself modeling, I also cut a piece of my body out and replaced it with the compound textiles I created with threads, organza and compound fabrics to display a fragile but still tough texture and resonate with my theme of some feminine organs being removed due to gynecological diseases. The figure is designed standing in the huge waves with various sea rocks, which both were something I personally was really scared of. However, the figure in the garment standing there still in the chaotic environment, bravely facing the future and frontline even if they are scary. The back of the garment also suggests an armor, soldier-like sense. The textiles in the waves as mid-ground reflect on the first project, the strings represent the spread of cancer cells.
Wearable Tent Design Technology Project: Plan
Project from my IB Design Technology Higher Level class.
This project aimed to design a product to solve the housing and safety problem of homeless people in today's society. The product is a wearable tent which could be worn as a coat in daily life as well as using it as a tent that could provide them a shelter to stay. This slide presents my fabric choices, design sketches and construction plans.
Wearable Tent Design Technology Project: Final Outcome
This slide shows the prototype of the product in both coat state and tent state.
Medium: 4-Layer Gore-Tex Waterproof Breathable Fabric, Aluminum rods, Mid-weight nylon taslan 3-layer WPB wit Tricot mesh lining, nets, long ziplines
Size: Approx. 1.8 x 2.2m
Protection - Fashion Illustration
Naturally, people are vulnerable and are always seeking something stronger to rely on and protect us from danger. For instance, armor and warriors all displayed a sense of security and dominance. In the natural world, many animals have dedicated appearances to protect them from danger, it’s like an idea of “savage beauty” in my eyes. Sometimes we intend to cover ourselves up to escape from something we fear or showing people that we are capable of dealing with our fears. Under the protection, we can have the safest and most comfortable enclosed environment. I want to convey a sense of security, protection, and aggressiveness through my artwork.
Protection - Felt Headpiece
Continuing the same theme, I made a felt headpiece with natural fleece Jacob. This piece is largely inspired by the phenomenon that people are seeking protections naturally, an avant-grande designer shop "Shopuntitled" in NYC, Alexander McQueen’s savage beauty, and other spiky creatures in the natural world as self-defense.
The felt headpiece’s materials sustainably extracted from the sheep in my school in Wales, I used nuno felting and needle felting to complete this piece.
Other works - Observational Drawing
These observational drawings comprehensively showed my fundamental drawing techniques. It contains two live models’ drawings, one still life drawing and two plaster statue academic drawings with pencil, charcoal and acrylic.
Other works - Painting & Drawing
This slide showed my art skills in various forms such as oil painting, acrylic painting, and mixed media painting during my high school from 2017 - 2020.
