Jiachen Liu (MFA 2018)
I make weavings based on the movements of our hands and how we manipulate digital devices to express our thoughts. I capture the physical presence and relationship between the sense of touch and the failure of human communication, tracing the gesture of digital equipment as the source of my image making. Repeatedly reading and writing family dialog helps me review the suppressed emotions.
Thousands of years ago, the Chinese used the imprint of a finger as a signature. The fingerprint carries personal information and it is a physical identifier. Now, it can unlock a phone and then display a drawing or writing on the screen.
The rapid development within China of both traditional and technological advances has influenced me. Although the analogue and digital systems are similar, we lose the invisible emotions through our pixelated language. However, the fingerprints we leave on our phone, laptop or tablet are the evidence of our attempts at communication.
I have found weaving to be an apt metaphor to draw a connective line with my absent loved ones who communicate with me through digital devices. Communication is like an unspooling of an invisible thread and weaving has the power to tell my story.