many migration that aren't one's own《一千迁移》
This collaborative piece illustrates migration stories across economic class and held by culture, hand-embroidered on a cotton-shirt that synthesizes silhouettes drawn from Eastern and Western cultures. This hand-made object tells a story of immigrant bodies within a global context of mass production.
The embroidery portrays two workers; on the left, an NYC Chinatown garment laborer who will later participate in the historic garment district strikes of the 1980s.
A wavering cotton thread ties her story to one of the artists’ mothers on the right. The woman, who once was connected to her child by a cord as well, migrated to the United States in the 1990s to design semiconductors on circuit boards. This circuitry is later mass-produced in mainland China, but not by her.
In the center sits a child who is born in America.
This story unfolds on a shirt based off a traditional Chinese undergarment called Dudou【肚兜】which literally translates to “belly-wrap”. The Dudou was worn by women to conceal their breasts, which were considered indecent under patriarchal Confucian societal norms. The collar and upper-hemline also reference the kitchen apron, a prominent symbol of domesticity in the United States during the 1940s and 50s.
The top is made of cotton hand-dyed yellow—the color associated with Asian race in America. It is also the strongest, yet most gentle color.
Kathy Wu is a Massachusetts-raised tech worker, designer, and poet. Her parents immigrated from China in the 1980s in order to design the circuit schematics that are probably in your phone. She received her BFA in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design, with a minor in Literary Arts. She currently works at an educational nonprofit in Boston Chinatown supporting youth learning through community & open source creative tools. In her artwork, she's interested in dialogues across migration, language, globalization, and labor.
Ying Bonny Cai is a designer and researcher exploring ways in which clothing promotes play, fosters empathy, and creates a sense of home. She was awarded a 2019-2020 Fulbright Fellowship to research traditional clothing in South Korea, has exhibited her works at New York Fashion Week, Textiles Art Center in Brooklyn, the Korean Cultural Center of NYC, and graduated from the Brown|RISD Dual Degree Program with a B.A. in Economics and B.F.A in Apparel Design. She is passionate about studying traditional garment engineering, experimenting with innovative materials, as well as collecting precious narratives through a spirit that pays homage to our earth and can reach people's hearts.