artist statement

This body of work delves into the intrinsic connection between making and communication, exploring how the physical act of creation serves as a language of its own. Each piece within this series reflects a narrative, not just in its final form, but through the hands that shaped it. This idea is rooted deeply in my personal history, growing up as a mixed-race individual in a multicultural family in Canada. As a child, speaking different languages created a barrier in conversation between my grandmother and me, and a missing link to my Chinese culture. Yet, through the shared experience of cooking traditional meals, we found a way to converse without words—our hands became our voices, exchanging stories and passing down knowledge across generations.

This silent, tactile communication resurfaced years later, as I found myself around the kitchen table again but with my young child, who had yet to learn to speak. Together, we would shape and mold, our hands once again engaging in a wordless dialogue. This experience led me to embrace clay as a new medium, reminiscent of working with dough in the kitchen. Clay, with its softness and adaptability, became the perfect material for my evolving life as both an artist and a mother. It allowed me to create in the quiet corners of my home, during late nights and early mornings, seamlessly blending my art practice with the rhythms of motherhood.

Through this series, I aim to convey the quiet power of making as a form of storytelling, where the process itself speaks volumes and the hands become the storytellers, weaving together the past, present, and future.

about the exhibition

This exhibition explores the intrinsic connection between making and communication, proposing the physical act of creation as a language in its own right. Rooted in gesture rather than speech, the works consider how knowledge, memory, and care are transmitted through the hands—across generations, cultures, and stages of life. Shaped as much by lived experience as by material, each piece positions making as both an intimate and communal act, where meaning is formed through touch, repetition, and shared presence.

The foundation of this exhibition emerges from the artist’s experience of growing up mixed race, navigating multiple cultural identities and languages. Verbal communication was limited between her grandmother and herself, creating a sense of distance from her Chinese heritage. Yet within the shared ritual of cooking, they found a different way to connect. Through the repeated gestures of folding and wrapping dough, their hands exchanged care, memory, and cultural knowledge without the need for words. This quiet, tactile language stayed resurfaced years later as she found herself back at the kitchen table, now with a young child of her own. Before speech was possible, making together became a primary form of communication—an embodied exchange rooted in presence and care.

The works in this exhibition are made from air-dry clay, a material commonly associated with children’s crafts and informal learning. Its accessibility and familiarity reflect ideas of generational knowledge, domestic labor, and care work, aligning with the experience of navigating art-making alongside early motherhood. Each piece is formed entirely by hand using techniques borrowed directly from dumpling-making: kneading, crimping, wrapping, and pinching. While some works closely resemble dim sum or dumplings, others abstract these gestures, distilling the essence of what a dumpling represents—small, contained forms shaped through repetition, patience, and care.

Dumplings function as a central symbol throughout the exhibition. Found in countless variations across cultures, they mirror the nature of craft itself—adaptable, local, and universal. Dumplings are also deeply tied to nourishment, comfort, and gathering. In this context, the works become vessels for cultural memory and diaspora, foregrounding the slow transmission of knowledge in contrast to contemporary productivity-driven culture. The repetition embedded in both dumpling-making and craft resists urgency, emphasizing process, care, and continuity.

The exhibition is installed around a rotating table positioned at the center of the gallery, referencing the experience of sitting at a Chinese restaurant table. Rather than being isolated behind vitrines as jewellery commonly is displayed, the works invite closeness and sustained looking. Visitors are encouraged to sit with the work, echoing the intimacy of sharing a meal. A participatory element further extends this invitation: audience members are invited to create their own “dumpling” pin, contributing to an evolving collective installation. Through this shared act, visitors engage directly with the exhibition’s core premise, experiencing firsthand how making can function as a form of silent communication.

At its core, this exhibition is an invitation to slow down and attend to what is expressed without words. In a world defined by efficiency and constant change, the act of making—of shaping material by hand and sharing space—becomes a quiet, rebellious form of connection. These works hold the gestures of a grandmother’s, an artist’s and a child’s hands, layered together across time. They carry moments of care, learning, and presence that are often overlooked, reminding us that meaning can be passed through the simple, shared act of doing.