Title Image: Tears for a bygone era.(2008) Found political poster reproduction. 35x58cm.
Tears for the patriotic (2008) Political poster reproduction 75x60cm.
薛美龄 IMAGE ARCHIVE
TEAR
The Tear series is intended to pay homage to a generation of Chinese displaced by the passing of ‘Chairman Mao’. The desire for national unity, shared by many Chinese residents, is often overlooked in Western media coverage.
It was inspired a residency at The Pickled Art Centre in Beijing during the winter of 2007-8. Temperatures in Beijing can drop to -10 degrees. The foundry, like many dwellings, was heated using coal. The primary role of one of the assistants was to tend to the furnace. He spent a majority of his spare time watching communist propaganda on VHS.
The motifs used in these artworks appropriate Catkins Willow leaves. The trees were propagated en masse as a vegetation initiative of the communist party. Each spring the trees germinate filling the air in Beijing with its cotton like seeds. The leaves also make reference to the Chinese idiom: falling leaves return to their roots.
