See things differently!
Born, educated and grown in developing countries that are still faithful to tradition and cultural heritage, young Asian women encounter inevitable tensions between tradition and modern lifestyles that makes her loose harmony and balance in her daily life.
The illustration collage is extracted from the book called “Book of complaints –See things differently!”, presenting how a busy multi-tasking life of a Vietnamese woman is. The depiction features numerous household chores that a woman needs to face after 8 working hours, as a wife, a mother and a daughter – in – law. The collage, in general, shows how stressful life a majority of Vietnamese women inevitably endure in her attempt to balance between modern and traditional roles.
The aim of this project is, through inspiring, and humorous articulations, to empower women who cherish those lives filled with challenges, by seeing their existing obscures in different way.
The woman, after her working hours, immerses herself into the unstopped traffic jam for her rush back to home. There are millions of unnamed things waiting for her at home.
Feeding a few month old baby while taking care of the naughty elder son is always a challenge to her.
Cooking...She still cannot find any moment of peace for herself while getting busy in cooking!
Pre-Lunar New Year celebration, her financial saving is blown away all for her shopping - a must to do that she can not neglect...
Most of her Lunar New Year celebration days pass in her buse with cooking from morning to evening...cook for family, for guests, for relatives, for veneration - traditional rituals to the deceased ancestors, constantly!
And she needs to pay attention to any petty behaviours, attitude, manners as well as her acknowledgement of traditional rituals...Her virtues are judged by glance of numerous people surrounding her.
Rare moments when she escapes from daily messy responsibilities for her own enjoyment.
She also has her own world of interest besides her care to family, domestic housework chores, husband, children...
Book cover
Theme's logo. The umbrella framed in the cirle represents for healthy complete sould and mind of the females. The metaphorical umbrella is sheltered under tranquil protection once the woman knows how to see her difficulties in different eyes.
Complaints, complaints and complaints.
An extract of image featuring a heavily impacted umbrella, represents for the teary torn soul of the female protagonist. Increasing quantities of complaints appear in conjunction with exceeding broken umbrellas.
An illustration features a challenging case in which the woman struggles effortfully to feed her young aged children, in houshold mess, after her long working time.
The Taoist quotation follows the challenge.
The perforated Taoist quotation casts shadow on following page, featuring scene of woman who has just rescued herself from stress and worries, by seeing her difficulties in a different way, which is meant by the Taoist quotation.
The triple: challenge - quotation - relief always comes together, being repetitive throughout all situations.
Quotations are recognised by physical interaction between readers and book.
The physical action of flipping the page over, for readability of reversed quotation print, helps simultaneously escaping the woman from the starring of her mother in law. Yet she is dwelling into her own world of interest.
Before the message of Taoist quotation is reached, the husband is ignorant of his wife's hard burden to immerse himself into his interesting world. After that, he comes back, besides the wife and helps her as much as he can. For this chapter, not the woman but the husband needs to change his perception about traditional roles of male and female in family structure.
