Leaf Silver
Sitting on the Couch Together (2020)
ceramic (couch, lamp, side table and lucky bamboo), placemat/rug, flax-seed stuffed cushion, hand-carved wooden hair barrette, vintage brass locket holding b&w portrait photograph
8 x 18 x 10 in.
$4,444
Gong gong’s ashes are planted underneath a springy little Yew tree in our back yard. His name is engraved on a small stone next to Xia Wei’s, my mama’s mama. She passed away of stomach cancer before I was born. At the memorial, Oma took a photograph of me, black and white, twelve years old, sporting a sidelong glance. I’m wearing a black silky wrap skirt which I strategically, and stylishly might I add, wrapped around my top too. My wet hair tied up into a bun with a wooden barrette. The memory of this photograph (which coincidentally made it as my first Facebook profile picture ever) and also the feeling of standing still, is all that really stays with me. It’s funny how one lone photograph can stand in for an era in one’s life.
This miniature living room set is made with puzzle pieces of memories small enough to hold in your hand. Fragments of people, lost to time and existing only in the feeling I get in my chest once in a while.
© Leaf Silver