Ying Bonny Cai | 2018 | Apparel Design & Economics and East Asian Studies
Ladder to the Sky
Cotton, silk, linen, and denim fabrics
Look to the sky and reclaim. Colonialism, U.S. militarism, and Western idolization have simultaneously erradicated and exotified the traditional fabric of our humble skins. In an ode to Cai Guo Qiang’s Sky Ladder, I sew together my mother and father, admiration and comradery, history and hope. From top to bottom. I dye blue for my father’s name 海. I pull linen yarns that billow in spring breeze. I assemble wings from panels of passionate friends. I trace a circle as full as my mother’s heart 月. I combine front and back in denim, looking to the past and future. These are the steps with which we ascend to 天.
from X, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, January 12 - February 18, 2018
