Metamorphosis of the layered motifs : self-portraiture and the metamorphosis of the pattern/grid in printmaking

Through the medium of etching, \The Metamorphosis of the Layered Motifs\" investigates the use of Chinese calligraphy and second-hand fabrics as indexed motifs to convey personal memories and states of mind. The transposed motifs bring together heterogeneous cultural fragments into what Mallarme describes as \"modern ideograms\". By \"modern ideograms\" Mallanne refers to poetic signs that transcend their hieroglyphic form. The prints which have been created as a result of this translate into images of my memory of growing up between two cultures ‚ÄövÑvÆ the Chinese and the French. The prints are composed of collages of texts and stitched garments and document many of the characteristics of my \"hybrid\" and \"exotic\" experiences. The process of etching is an important and integral part of my project because I use the analogy of the memory of the plate with my own memory. Chinese texts and second hand fabrics are used for their familiar associations with my childhood in Asia and in France. Chinese was the first language I learnt to write in Macao. Fabrics were the materials I worked most closely with for many years first in helping my mother's family in Macao and then in helping my mother in Paris. The two elements echo both the enriching discovery and unprecedented loss that I experienced in my adjustments to my successive displacements from Cambodia to Australia. The result has been a series of etchings and sculptural works which chart this investigation."