Poppy petal drawings. I was working on the challenge of "Drawing by Memories" act, when i research about women in the olden days in China's rural areas making paper cuttings.
They have no education and the imageries they cut were based on memories of their farming (animals, flowers and sometimes, inserts).
My pile of "Chinese Red Paper" that my brother sent from Singapore to Loughborough University, UK.
This Red Paper is an "auspicious paper" that Chinese used during lunar new year, wedding and birthday celebrations.
In memory of my later father - Father first showed me the red paper was when I was just learning to use the scissors. He taught me the cutting of the Chinese "double happiness character" - 双喜. This is a character that Chinese use during auspicious occasions.
The red paper(红纸) is always in my mind as I was also curious about how it was made? It is thin, sturdy (good enough for paper cutting not to break), and has a dusty red powdery-like texture to it.
With more than hundreds of drawing of the poppy petals, I now started cutting the petals in the red paper, without looking at the petals/followers, and bravely imitated the Chinese women cutting a motif i am now familiar with.
The cut outs needs to be handled with care as the red paper is flimsy and easy to break.
I was obsessed with cutting the red paper petals! It was such a therapeutic and calming process! I cut hundreds of them, some broke, torn and some were intact. I decided to cast them using resin.
Finally, I completed my Masters in Studio Practice with a range of fashion jewelry.
