2018
Inspiration
This collection illustrates early Taiwanese marriages, in which Bazi, a Chinese method of fortune-telling, played a dominant role in determining a person's spouse and marital happiness. Without love as the foundation of a marriage, women in this tradition were simply controlled by a conservative concept that men are superior to women, and a wife's function in a marriage is solely to bear a son to carry on the family name.
This exhibits that Taiwanese women's values and status depended on the patriarchal society and the structure of the agricultural economy. The meaning of early marriage for Taiwanese women was only one of responsibility and restraint.
Parents Story
Free to Love
My father started his own business from scratch, but due to his poor financial status, my mother's grandparents did not approve of their relationship and forced them to break up. However, with the help of a fortune teller and my parents' determination, they were eventually able to marry and start a family.
Today, attitudes towards marriage have become more open and free. This collection depicts my parents' conservative and restrictive views on marriage. My mother is obsessed with fortune-telling and follows my grandmother's example by using Bazi to determine her children's marriages. As a result, my siblings are limited in their ability to pursue their own romantic interests freely.
My parent’s wedding
Research
By examining wedding photos from different eras, I noticed that couples in the past often appeared unfamiliar with each other and their body language conveyed reluctance and powerlessness. This suggests that love and affection were not freely chosen but rather constrained by social norms and expectations. However, over time, wedding photography has become more expressive and indicative of the freedom of marriage.
To capture this change, I incorporated the modern hugging posture often seen in contemporary wedding photos into my design work. By depicting men and women as integrated and inseparable after marriage, I aim to highlight the constraints that early Taiwanese women faced and their limited choices when it came to love and relationships.
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Weaving sketch of traditional marriage and red line.
Weaving sketch of traditional marriage and red line.
Chinese Knot
In the old days, newly wedded couples would have a Chinese knot hanging on their mosquito net hook to show their love would last forever.The Chinese Cupid’s red line is applied in my work to show the marriage is winded and the man and woman are tied together. This also symbolizes everyone in an ironic way blesses the strange couple.
Development
Aluminum foil is utilized to wrap the two hugging people. I also use markers to create a 3D look then flatten to 2D to be employed as the final pattern. The red line is used to wind the entire garment then tie the Chinese knot to ironically illustrate the strange and a bit of stretch relation- ship between a couple in a marriage.
