The Needle Woman

Mandy Wan
30 January 2001 to 2 March 2001

Chinese artist Mandy Wan’s work explores, through personal memories, the way the past can make an indelible imprint on a person’s life in the present. Having grown up in a strict, traditional family environment in Hong Kong, her subject matter is often culturally specific – one aspect of her heritage she has focused on is the practice of foot-binding. At the same time, the artist believes that her work holds meaning for people of different cultures, pointing out ‘how essential the past is to make sense of one’s own present.’

By using a variety of media, from two-dimensional media such as photography and drawing to three-dimensional ones such as ceramics, Wan investigates the different facets of the relationship between the past and the presen.