Felixe Laing
Holding On - Letting Go - Letting On - Holding Go
This project aims to find balance; to hold on and to let go. It is the treasuring of objects and the memories they represent, but it is also the relinquishing of those that are holding me in the past or in a state of grief. I have had to actively untangle myself from these objects, which I had formed deep personal attachments to and a desire to preserve. I have adopted symbols of grief and personalised them with my own narratives and representations of my sentimental objects. With narrative being an important aspect in the work, it made sense that a writing practice emerged; like my fingerprints, my handwriting inscribes these works with meaning. The ceramic process and textile work are both tactile and engage a sense of the hand and the presence of a maker. By making objects I am making new histories and working toward a balance of new and old. I am the one who holds myself back. Here I am letting on. It is not the avoidance of melancholy, nostalgia or sentimentality, but a considered embrace.