Cocooning

This piece is inspired by a Chinese phrase “Zuo Jian Zi Fu”, a metaphor for getting trapped in a situation. I saw a documentary about lesbians in China, where this phrase was used to describe their dilemma. Lesbianism was historically unacceptable in China, punishable by death. In our times, it is a marginalized social status.

I boiled many silk cocoons, stretched and dried them to create a printable surface. The silk has a yellowish color due to containing the small carcasses of dead silkworms.