furniturE
Mother of Pearl
workingyear: 2023
width: 42”
depth:23”
height:29”
width: 42”
depth:23”
height:29”
mix wood,
steel,
mother of pearl,
abalone,
glass
steel,
mother of pearl,
abalone,
glass
mix wood
steel
mother of pearl
abalone
glass
steel
mother of pearl
abalone
glass
Two years ago, late July, I went back to an old house with my mom, the house where she grew up in to sort through things before we sell the house. My mom told me that we could pick one piece of furniture to bring back with us. I picked an elaborate wardrobe. But the writing desk that I left behind keeps lingering in my mind. It was a simple and humble-looking black writing desk. Could be an antique from the late Republican era. I'm not sure if it was my grandmother's dowry, or perhaps my grandmother's mother's dowry.
The desk had a tea-colored tinted glass on it, underneath the glass were photos and texts cut out by my grandmother from magazines, along with some old family pictures and even a few coupons. Interestingly, my grandmother arranged them neatly and symmetrically, by shape and size, in an orderly fashion. From a distance, it almost seemed like they were part of the desk's own pattern.
The desk had a tea-colored tinted glass on it, underneath the glass were photos and texts cut out by my grandmother from magazines, along with some old family pictures and even a few coupons. Interestingly, my grandmother arranged them neatly and symmetrically, by shape and size, in an orderly fashion. From a distance, it almost seemed like they were part of the desk's own pattern.
Mother of Pearl— Pearl
Mom — Me
Grandmother — Mother
The mother-daughter relationship is like a mirror,
with lustrous surface, with iridescent gleam
Also, like a spinning wheel,
Even with shatters and cracks, the reflections can still be seen,
endlessly churning no matter what.
...
Somehow, I see this desk in my dreams,
ever-recurring.
But it takes on different forms.
Do you believe in past life memories?
Sometimes the images of an object in my mind are too vivid,
Down to every detail, texture, and surroundings unfold
It's not just fleeting images in my mind,
They take shape through sensory memories,
As if I have touched them before, lived with them.
Mom — Me
Grandmother — Mother
The mother-daughter relationship is like a mirror,
with lustrous surface, with iridescent gleam
Also, like a spinning wheel,
Even with shatters and cracks, the reflections can still be seen,
endlessly churning no matter what.
...
Somehow, I see this desk in my dreams,
ever-recurring.
But it takes on different forms.
Do you believe in past life memories?
Sometimes the images of an object in my mind are too vivid,
Down to every detail, texture, and surroundings unfold
It's not just fleeting images in my mind,
They take shape through sensory memories,
As if I have touched them before, lived with them.