Journal Postings: Rachelle Lim
| (11/25/08): Entwined |  Entwined is the outcome of a collaboration effort between two of my former classmates Mariah Tuttle, Karen Lee and I. In an effort to keep in touch with each other after graduating San Diego State University we challenged one another to each create three components that would come together forming one cohesive neckpiece. Our only stipulations were that we were to use silver, gold and black color schemes and each component could not be any larger than three inches. Coming together to see our finished pieces we were pleased that we each had our own styles yet each piece accentuated one another. |
| (11/25/08): Entwined Detail |  This neckpiece is approximately 28” long. The materials used were sterling silver, fine silver, brass, steel, gold leaf, nickel, vitreous enamel, embroidery thread, wood and patina. |
| (11/25/08): Entwined Sketches |  Sketches of ideas I had for my three components. |
| (11/25/08): Entwined Sketches |  Sketches of ideas I had for my three components. |
| (11/25/08): Entwined Sketches |  Sketches of ideas I had for my three components. |
| (03/12/08): New West Coast Design |  Inspired by the California Design exhibitions at the Pasadena Museum of Art (now the Norton Simon Museum) in the 1950s through the 1970s, NEW WEST COAST DESIGN is a group of exhibitions that was held at different venues around San Francisco focusing on specific developments in the craft and design fields. In association with the San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design, Velvet da Vinci Gallery was the exhibition venue for jewelry and metalwork. Held from January 18-February 17, 2008, I was fortunate to have participated in the exhibition at Velvet da Vinci. A printed and online catalog is available at their website velvetdavinci.com. It is a great website to view contemporary jewelry and metalwork and also has great links to other websites. |
| (03/12/08): Lost Girls Commemorative Urn |  This is the finished image of the Lost Girls Commemorative Urn. Its dimensions are 12.5”h x 9.25”w x 3.75”d. The materials used to create this piece were sterling silver, fine silver, copper, gold leaf, brass, vitreous enamel, polyurethane resin, transparency and incense. |
| (03/12/08): Lost Girls Commemorative Urn Detail |  Incense smoke is thought to be the spirits of the deceased. I wanted the liveliness in the meandering smoke from the urn (uterus) to come through the entangled silver wires (umbilical cords). |
| (03/12/08): Enamel Detail |  Here is a detail of the enamel on the urn. It is about six layers of vitreous enamel and gold leaf that was kiln fired. I wanted to create a crackled texture with the white enamel coming through the gold which was a little tricky to create. With the enamels I used I couldn’t get a consistent outcome on my samples so I didn’t know what to expect at the end which was a little terrifying I have to admit. |
| (03/12/08): Components of the Lost Girls Commemorative Urn |  These are the many components that make up the commemorative urn. The lid has a locking mechanism that locks in the incense holder and handles to the urn. The umbilical cord/sonogram memorial image sits on top of the lid like it is transcending out of the urn. |
| (06/09/07): Commemorative Urn | 
I finished raising the copper disc that was pictured in an earlier entry. I made a sample lid with the sonogram set into the frame. The various intertwined wires represent umbilical cords. When the piece is finished, my goal of the urn is to represent a pregnant mother's belly and reproductive system. Inside the urn I am going to fabricate an incense holder that can be pulled out of the urn. It will carry three incense sticks. When lit, the smoke will float out of the urn through the wires. In Chinese funerary customs, the smoke from the incense sticks are thought to be the spirits of the deceased.
I have made many samples and now am fabricating the rest of the urn out of sterling silver. With the rising prices of metal, the fellowship has given me the opportunity to purchase copper, gold leaf, sterling silver and also allowed me to purchase materials to make models, enamel, cast resin, among other things for this urn. I will post more entries as the piece progresses more..... Rachelle
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| (06/09/07): Enamel Samples for Urn | 
I plan to enamel the main body of the urn. I decided I wanted to use the chinese mourning colors of gold, yellow and white. After reading about using gold foil and leaf in an enameling book, I decided to make samples trying this technique. These are a few of the samples that I did experimenting with gold leaf and enamel over copper.
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| (06/09/07): Polyurethane Resin Samples | 
I knew I wanted to incorporate a sonogram within the urn because many chinese female babies have been aborted due to the misuse of the ultrasound for the now illegal sex selection of babies. I decided to cast a sonogram image into polyurethane resin. I am still trying to figure out the best way to cast the sonogram in the resin without creating bubbles. This is a couple of samples from the dozen I have tried so far.
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| (06/09/07): Flower Sample |  By analyzing the construction of the chrysanthemum flower and looking at images of antique enameled faberge and tiffany flowers, I figured out how to construct a copper sample of a chrysanthemum that can be taken apart by overlapping layers of copper pedals interlocking together with brass hardware.
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| (06/09/07): Chrysanthemum |  Researching more about Chinese funerary traditions, I learned that yellow chrysanthemum flowers are placed at burial sites to mourn the deceased. White chrysanthemums are also used if the deceased have passed away at a young age. I decided I wanted to make the handles on the urn to be chrysanthemum flowers that are also symbolic of the female reproductive systems ovaries and fallopian tubes with the body of the urn form representing the uterus. |
| (06/09/07): Handle Samples |  After making the body, I began to make models for possible handles out of sculpey.
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| (06/09/07): Urn Sample |  I then placed white sculpey over the armature and baked the polymer clay till it hardened. The forms were lightly sanded and painted with white acrylic paint.
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| (06/09/07): Urn Sample |  I first began this piece by researching various topics such as population rates, birth control, ultrasound, mourning rituals, flowers, urns and so on. Over the past few months this urn has consumed me mentally and physically. This piece has great significance to me so I took extra time to make many samples and models. I also tried learning new techniques that I was interested in learning. After doing various sketches, I constructed three-dimensional models to help me visualize the size of the urn and how the handles and lid related to the body. I began the model for the body by fabricating wire armatures.
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| (03/27/07): Current Piece |  All the research I have been doing the past ten months has been a growing experience. I have learned a lot about Chinese and American history. Some of the issues I have been researching are hard for me to confront, but I feel are important social issues. I am currently working on a piece that I’m very passionate about making, but has been a challenge for me to research and design for because of its taboo quality. I am in the process of raising a copper disc to form an urn that I am dedicating to the “lost girls” in China. Due to many reasons, one being the “one-child policy” beginning in 1979, many baby girls have been aborted, killed and abandoned, leading to an imbalance of male to female ratio that can be a major problem in the next coming decade. Fortunately, this issue is being taken seriously and traditional Confucius views of wanting a male heir over a female heir is slowing subsiding. More to come about this piece in the future… Rachelle
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| (03/27/07): Cutting Edge Show |  In December I was invited to be in a group exhibition called the Cutting Edge Show at Sculpture to Wear in Santa Monica, California. This is the postcard from that show curated by Kim Harrell and Lisa M. Berman. Since the show ended, the gallery is now carrying some of my jewelry. |
| (03/27/07): Home Grown |  This past October I was invited to participate in an exhibition called Home Grown at my alumni San Diego State University. I showed this piece entitled 36C. It is a life size wearable bra made of fine silver, sterling silver, magnifying glasses and vinyl. I believe that everyone would like to change or are insecure about a part of themselves. We feel subconscious about these insecurities and believe others are fixated on them. The text behind the bra are quotes taken from a book Reshaping the Female Body: Dilemma of Cosmetic Surgery by, Kathy Davis which had many inspiring quotes about why females feel like they need plastic surgery. I wanted to incorporate the quotes that inspired me so I decided to create a backdrop made up of these quotes that the bra can magnify. I thought this would be interesting because the viewer becomes interactive reading the magnified text through the bra, but at the same time is the voyeur that makes the female feel insecure. |
| (03/27/07): New York 2006 |  There was so much I wanted to do and see in the Big Apple in such a small amount of time, but I managed to do fairly well. I spent a good amount of time walking along the streets of New York’s Chinatown. It is considered the largest Chinatown in the United States. The streets are quite busy and there are many buildings. I still enjoy San Francisco’s Chinatown the best, but that’s just my opinion. I visited the Chinese American Museum which was small and located in the third level of an old building. I spent the whole day in Chinatown trying the tasty food, visiting the parks, shopping and overall had a fun time.
During my stay in New York, I visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. This visit was important to me because I have been doing a lot of research about immigration during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to the United States through Angel Island on the west coast and Ellis Island on the east coast. The museum on Ellis Island was very informative and interesting. The displays dealt with many issues that I have been researching about such as reasons for immigration to the United States, exploitation of minorities for cheap labor, racism, means of transportation and what immigrants experienced upon reaching Ellis Island. Immigrants had very different experiences upon entering America through Angel Island and Ellis Island; there were a lot more restrictions and racism entering through Angel Island. I plan to visit Angel Island when it opens to the public after its restoration.
I visited a few museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim and I got to see an amazing exhibition on the history of food utensils entitled Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table, 1500-2005 at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.
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| (03/27/07): Yin Yu Tang House |  My curiosity from researching the hierarchy of individuals’ status and room positioning in a traditional Chinese family home led me to Salem, Massachusetts to visit the Yin Yu Tang house, originally located in southeastern China (c.1800-1982), now re-erected at the Peabody Essex Museum. The traditional Chinese home had as many as three generations living in a house at one time occupied by direct male descendents, their wives, children and at times non-family members. The Yin Yu Tang house is two stories and is made of two halls separated by a central courtyard. The upper hall of a Chinese home was considered more auspicious and prestigious, because the rooms faced south, bringing light and more yang energy-nature’s masculine principle into the home. The lower hall typically faced north and had lower status. Downstairs was considered more prestigious than the upstairs.
Family members were allotted rooms based on the location of the room and their status within the family. Older generations occupied more auspiciously located rooms than younger generations. Older sons were given preference over younger sons and unmarried daughters lived in upstairs rooms until they married and moved into their husband’s homes. Younger daughters often lived in rooms with their parents.
Given the opportunity to visit this home with so much history was amazing. |
| (10/16/06): Haystack |  Attending Haystack Mountain School of Crafts was definitely a beneficial experience. Living and working along a community of artists for three weeks in a beautiful isolated area with the Atlantic Ocean as my backyard was a dreamlike world for me. The environment, people, classes, food were all great. I attended a Metals class taught by Alan Burton Thompson, which explored incorporating found objects into metalwork. He challenged me to make pieces quickly using objects that I would not have thought could be used for jewelry. I created jewelry using a rubber pad used to open bottles, a monopoly house, rice, bobbins and live moss and lichen growing on a roofing shingle. This workshop allowed me to explore and open up my mind to using non-traditional materials in metalwork. I plan to incorporate this way of thinking in my new narrative body of work I will pursue through the fellowship. I’m in the process of beginning to build a small studio. I have set up a drill press and torch so far. I’m looking into buying hammers and stakes within the next few weeks. I’m leaving this coming week to explore the Chinatown community, Chinese American Museum and more in New York. I will make a brief stop in Massachusetts to visit the Peabody Essex Museum, which houses the Yin Yu Tang, a merchant house from China built in late Qing dynasty architecture with a family history spanning over 200 years. I can’t wait to see what adventures this next trip will take me on.
Rachelle
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| (10/16/06): Haystack | | Everyday I would walk down a trail next to my room to the beach near by and watch the sun set. |
| (10/16/06): Haystack |  Everyday I would walk down a trail next to my room to the beach near by and watch the sunset. Haystack is such a beautiful place, I highly reccommend it if you enjoy crafts and nature. |
| (10/15/06): Los Angeles Chinatown |  The last few months have flown by quickly since I wrote my last entry. My research in Los Angeles Chinatown brought back many memories of childhood. I find it interesting that I haven’t visited Chinatown for over ten years even though I live about ten miles from it. Walking down the streets I became a child again smiling in front of an old fountain that had become dilapidated over time. It once was so colorful and musical from children such as myself sitting on their father’s shoulders laughing and throwing coins into the bowls labeled prosperity, long-life, success… I passed by restaurants and my mouth began to water from nostalgic memories of attending Chinese American wedding banquets, eating delicious twelve course meals with Chinese dishes such as shark fin soup, duck with plum sauce, abalone… I became somewhat sad in that my memories of Chinatown as a child were not what I saw during my research. The area seems to have become more of a ghost town and does not have the vibrant atmosphere that San Francisco’s Chinatown still has today. From my readings and research I’ve come to the conclusion that like my family, many Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans have moved out of the Chinatown area into the San Gabriel Valley which has somewhat become the modern Chinatown. During my research in the Los Angeles vicinity, I visited the Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles and found the Lim Family Association Meeting Building. I also read several books and highly recommend Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco by, Judy Yung if you are interested in Chinese American history and women’s rights issues. I’m continuing to read and just started a book on historical meanings of Chinese customs. Hopefully my image will show up this time. I’m not sure why they don’t upload onto the site. Sorry if it doesn’t show up again.
Rachelle
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| (07/29/06): Windgate Fellowship 2006 | | Hello, I hope everyone is having a great summer. In the past few months since the Windgate fellowship has stated, I have gone to Chicago and San Francisco to research Chinese American culture in the Chinatowns and Asian Museums. In Chicago I attended my first Society of North American Goldsmith's conference. I met a ninty year old women at the Chinese American Museum of Chicago that came from the same area as my parents did in China. She told me about her experience of being born in the United States and immigrating back to China at a young age and then returning back to America to get married. The Chinatown in Chicago is small compared to San Francisco's. My experience in San Francisco was definitely life changing. I visited several museums, the Donadina Cameron House which was a place of refuge, for the first Chinese females that immigrated to America, from being forced into prostitution. I got to visit my grandfather's grave for the first time. He's buried in one of the first Chinese cemetaries in America. To my surprise, I found out I had cousins in San Francisco. I also went to a fortune cookie factory and right above it was my family benevalent association. THere's so much history in San Francisco's Chinatown. I've been reading books on the history of Chinese immigration to America, footbinding, the history of Chinese rituals and a lot more...I am now going to Haystack Mountain School of Crafts for a three week class and will continue my research of Chinese immigration to Los Angeles and New York when I return. I've been learning a lot, the fellowship has been a great experience and I look forward to my future adventures to come.
Rachelle |
| (07/29/06): San Francisco Chinatown | | Here is a picture of San Francisco's Chinatown gateway. |
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