Ying Ruan
My memories are memories of memories of memories. Are they true to the past? It doesn’t matter. Only the present me can decide reality. With each recall, I decide what is true from the past I’ve drawn upon. Each memory is evaluated from past recalls. If I no longer remember the source, is this being still “me”?
By collecting old memories through old textiles with previous lives, I want to re-frame ‘deteriorated’ materials in disparate ways. My crochet pieces can be recomposed in different ways and collect memories. They’re fluid and recomposable, as am I (my work is my body). In this way, the work becomes an archive of memory fragments and a form of processing through documentation. How do we live with the past while allotting space for new experiences? The components of my art mimic the way I understand my posthuman self to be deteriorated and fragmented and continually recomposed through experience, and their combined existence is an extension of my own.
Matrilineal Succession, 2023. acrylic, hot glue, yarn, wire, fabric on canvas, 36" x 24".
Matrilineal Succession, 2023. acrylic, hot glue, yarn, wire, fabric on canvas, 36" x 24".
As Red as Blood, As Red as Luck, 2023. yarn, hot glue, acrylic, wire, 2.5ft x 6.5ft.
As Red as Blood, As Red as Luck, 2023. yarn, hot glue, acrylic, wire, 2.5ft x 6.5ft.