"Hua Shi Hua(华诗画): Drawings and Poems from China", 2014

silk, bamboo paper, ink, 7.5" x 10" x .75" 

I came into Chinese material culture through the loose narrative of my heritage, a story I became more capable of telling through researching and experiencing Chinese paper and printing culture in the field and in my Shanghai studio in 2013. In the Qing Dynasty, independent publishers preferred woodblock plates to print and edition their books. Because Chinese characters are drawn, publishers could hire a single, illiterate person to “carve” literature onto wood, print, and bind their books. As an artist once illiterate in this cultural practice myself, I reimagined these printing practices with a laser cutter that etched roman type onto wood.

a self-translated four character (Chinese) two line poem (English), translated twice. 

woodblock print on paper, 7" x 10"

woodblock print on paper, 7" x 10" 

artifact of printing performance, laser cut woodblock plates, stone stamps and USB key with manuscript and cut files, 13.5" x 10" x 5"