IOTA21 - Indian Ocean Craft Triennial
Futuring Craft Conference www.indianoceancrafttriennial.com

*Conference Presentation:
Day 2, Saturday 18th September, Curtin University
*Conference Proceedings: Pages 120 - 134

Designing the In-between: Traversing Biography and Place through Objects

Abstract:
This paper examines how biography and the culture of place can inform strategies and processes in the designing and making of object-based works. By place, I refer to concepts of the geographical loci of home and place; in articulating biography, I draw upon my narrative and identity as an Australian of Southeast Asian descent. By examining the hybridised, transcultural experiences of my Chinese and Vietnamese lineage through a collection of objects, I reveal a methodical framework for developing a visual language. As a contemporary craft designer and maker, I want to contribute to this dialogue through a deliberate visual language of an artistic plus craft and design practice through my blended identity and practice.

By reflecting on my identity, familial migration histories and woven connections of a life lived in-between cultural spheres provide a visual and material framework for this ongoing dialogue of a shared experience. Graphical manipulation of tea leaves and floral motifs and their symbolism in the deeply connected histories of trade and exchange as metaphorical evocations associated with the complexities of my familial migration and experience of cultural hybridity become sources for inspiration. Through these analogies, I developed a creative and experimental combination of animation and digital design applications to provide innovative approaches to casting metallurgical processes. Through this visual form and in my creative processes, I hope to illustrate my insights in living at the in-between from the perspective of an Australian of Southeast Asian diaspora.