Theme: History
Adaptation: Umbrella
This design was inspired in part by the blue heron – a figure rather common in Chinese ink paintings. When hunting fish, the heron will extend its wings and wrap them around its body, tricking the fish into its place of shade. This canopy feeding technique stands as an example of the herons independence despite it being a group animal.
In Chinese culture, It’s somewhat common for people to congregate in groups: building large families and staying close generation after generation. The first immigrants in Chinatown likely had to break away from this type of collective culture in order to integrate into American society – which values freedom and independence. This structure is meant to be held up by the wearer, as a symbolic sort of gesture of a person carrying a newfound weight on their shoulders – the weight of thousands of years of history and the hidden fear for the future. The blades and axes embedded in the wings of the structure reference China’s violent history in its chase for an empire as well as Chinatown’s similar struggle in terms of gangs. Despite everything, The wings show little distress, ready to take on another century of uncertainty.
