Pearling
Are we wanting more? During my teens and early 20s, I was taught that it is wrong to desire wealth and money. This is challenged by the history of Chinese farmers who, in the 1880s, faced famine, poverty and high costs of living. These pressures forced them to leave their home and work on pearling farms in Broome, Western Australia. There were others who were forced to move as indentured labourers. The journey of immigration is an emotional and psychological journey that universally draws out hope, belonging, separation - or social segregation, - ambition, community, reinvention and nostalgia.
The looks start with the neutrality of the quest for survival. They contemplate the danger of sacrifice, prosperity, ambition, and how living in a different environment can lead to reinvention. Victorian pearled cutlery, pearls, fishing nets, and paper cuttings are used as projections of aspiration. Colours are drawn from garment references, including sepia photographs that were often overpainted with colours to reflect a reality more romantic, and striking. Ultimately our contemporary identities merge with our nostalgia for the greener pastures we see in the places we have left behind.
