JAN-RU WAN
Chapel Hill fiber and installation artist Jan-Ru Wan discusses her 2019 installation at the Mint Museum Uptown with Edie Carpenter.
The Noise We Make and the Shadow We Create, 2019 10’ W x 15’ D x 7’ H
Screen-printed recycled plastic, thread, rusted bells dipped in wax
EC: The Noise We Make seems to relate to other recent installation works of yours treating taking a stand and writing one’s own history such as Position to Write/Position to Erase (2018) exhibited at GreenHill in Slow Art?
JW: This new work continues my exploration of notions of written/erased history. Women’s voices have been forced into the silence throughout history.
EC: What elements in the piece, that appears to relate to a suspended garment, evoke the place of women in society?
JW: That’s one reason I picked the color of pink plastic.The plastic is printed with images of the female pelvis and children playing. Individual units are sewn together at their corners leaving interstices for light to pass through.
EC: What is the symbolism of the hundreds of bells that are suspended from the piece?
JW: The rusted bells have been dipped into wax. They are physically present but do not make a sound. Throughout history, women’s voices have often been forced into silence. Yet silence itself can send a loud and clear message. It is this concept- the voice of a silent force, assembled together in this form that itself refers to a woman’s cloth.
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