What happens when you're not ready to communicate, but you try to anyways?
In Bent（彎的）, I explore the complicated intersections of my identity through porcelain and mahjong. How do I choose to withhold certain parts of myself through presentation? In using references that actively exclude certain viewers, I sharpen the discomfort of people who may or may not understand what I try to communicate through words, mahjong, and the love of labor.
I do not mean to say "labor of love," rather, I prefer the phrase "love of labor" as that prioritizes the physical contentment of labor versus the more emotional contentment in the first phrase. However, both phrases are intrinsically connected. My love of labor is not only to feel the physicality of my body. It is:
A love of labor that dedicates myself to my craft.
A love of labor that communicates to my family.
A love of labor that quiets my anxiety (usually).
Bent（彎的）
24" x 24" x 12" (table) // ~1" x 1.5" x 0.6" (individual tile)
Porcelain, blue mason stain, glaze, wool, red oak, mason board, pine, brackets, wood glue
Spring 2018
Short interactive moment led by me. We are mixing the tiles together, and stacking.
The final formation. People are welcome to touch, but they do not know the rules of mahjong, so it can become messy.
Arranged like a graph, from least amount of activity on tile to most amount of activity on tile.
The tiles arranged in the solved puzzle formation, however, it is unsolvable unless I provide this image.
GIF of the process of "making the walls" in mahjong.
