» Handmade

Documenation – Some of my artwork

Sheau — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 22:58:16 +0000

Silkcreen & stitching.

Cotton & teabags, from my stitching journal.

Documentation of my experiment with natural dyes on tea bags, from my stitching journal.

This semester, I am experimenting with natural dyes in my weaving class. So far, I have tried tea, onion skins, jamaica and eucalyptus. For my silkscreen class, I explore making silkscreen designs on canvas with threads and then handstitched more threads on the surface to make the designs more complex and dynamic.

Sewing with machine

Sheau — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:56:39 +0000

Finally, I used the sewing machine to make something. It took me a while. It wasn’t an easy process… I was struggling most of the time. Anyway, I am pleased that I managed to finish this cellphone pouch. It is a gift for my friend. Hopefully, she will like it. :0)

p/s: the button and the top purple border were handstitched.

Stitching Journal

Sheau — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 00:13:18 +0000

This week, I started going to a weaving class and my professor would like us to keep a journal for the class. Just so happened that I found this beautiful handmade paper journal in a local thrift store recently; and, I am happy that now I can make good use of it. The papers have very nice quality that is more like fabric or leather. It inspires me to keep a stitching journal….a journal without my handwriting. The first assignment in the class is to think of a word to share with the class. I have been thinking about “roots”. Root as in origins as well as source of energy. This is a collage with photocopy of an old photo of my brothers and me with hand stitching and stamping of the word “roots”.

Art show – Cafe Barrone

Sheau — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 17:01:51 +0000

My coworker Lissa was invited to show her work at Cafe Barrone in Menlo Park. And, she generously invited Jo, my other coworker, and me to show some of our work too! The artwork will be there from July 23 to September 9, 2006.

Untitled: July 2006

The piece I put in the show is an extension from my previous work Lucid Thread. For this piece, I explored and experimented different textures on the surface with threads by hand stitching & couching. The figure was painted with incense powder and tea diluted with brown fabric paint. The original concept for Lucid Thread revolves around the ambiguity of presence and absence, duality and coexistence. The concept derived from a childhood portrait of me in Malaysia. It serves as a reflection of my life up until this point. Also, I am interested in the idea of living in two worlds. As a Malaysian born Chinese currently residing in the United States, I often find myself reflecting on my own roots and the feeling of being in two places at once. Space suddenly becomes borderless and the two worlds start to merge into one.

Lucid Thread: May 2006

Handmade Envelopes

Sheau — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 00:13:15 +0000

Made these small envelopes from magazine clippings. Also, some small beautiful drawings cut out from the magazines.

These are some of the drawings that I saved from the magazines.