LI LI 丽丽 LOOM
This was a hand loom that I created for myself out of scrap wood while staying at Lijiang Studio.
This residency was an opportunity to explore challenges and dialogue with my diasporic identity and Han Chinese lineage. I strung my own warps and experimented by hand.
Weaving felt like an analogue to not speaking my own mother tongue. I was particularly looking to the 4 principles of Saori to keep me moving through rampant stressors, variables, and mistakes:
1. Consider the differences between people and machines
2. Be bold and adventurous
3. Look out through eyes that shine
4. Inspire one another and everyone in the group
I gifted my textile process artifacts to the He Family who hosts the studio residents and Frog Wing, a friend and guide who gave the pieces new form. The loom was returned to its original purpose — as firewood.