Moodboard:

Artist: Chiharu Shiota

In Shiota’s installation piece The Key in the Hand in 2015. She created a web of red threads and at the end of each thread, she hangs a key that she collected from people all over the world. Key is a very personal item that stores one’s memories. She deals with the idea of how past invades the present

I picked the Mott St. of Chinatown in NYC because there is lots of history behind the old chinatown and there’s definitely a reflection of the past history in Chinatown today.

My target audiences include the older generation who had been through the immigration process. I want my work to be a memorial for them, and they are somehow part of the work because they contribute their memories to the piece. My work is also for the younger generations who are children of these Chinese immigrants. For them, the installation teaches them a lesson of their grand and grand grand parents and what they have been through. Last but not least, I also want the Chinese tourists who grew up in Chinese territory to see the work because they always forget the Chinese people living in another country.

Rendering/ Process:

Inspired by Shiota’s use of symbolism, I decided to use shoes and red shoelaces as my main materials because shoes symbolize the long journey of Chinese immigrants traveling from China to U.S, and they also symbolize the long history these immigrants had been through. The color red is a representative color of China and it also correlates with the red strings in Shiota’s work.

Final prototype: