Apple of My Eyes

I set on the sofa in grandma’s living room. She took an apple from the bowl, set down on a small stool next to me, and started peeling, asking what’s happening in my life lately.
I observed grandma’s hands around the fruit, the heaviness and dullness of her movement gave me a sense of security. An action I’ve observed over and over again. Fingers kept busy, eyes loosely dropped on the apple, words slowly exchanged in the rhythm of the knife slicing through the pulp.

Family life in Chinese culture centers around a tiny “tea table” in the living room. When revolving around one apple, the peeling of it is uniquely imprinted with that moment. While the modern treatment of fruit mostly concerns its value in nutrition, origin, and freshness, it ignores the physical action and conversation united by the action such as peeling, a ‘meaningless’ step.

In an attempt to preserve the moment, I carefully sewed together the peels with strings resembling grandma’s gray hair, turning them into stuffed objects. The process of materialization reenacts the endless repetition I have lived, and by caring for a useless yet fragile material as fruit peels, I took on the soft heart of my grandma. 

Apple of My Eyes constitude a series of work I sew with apple peels. 

Family Tree

Family of Three (infancy phantasm)

Exhibition at Demo Eindhoven - What Makes a Home