Junior Weaving II Final
A piece about my mother's oophorectomy and her memory loss after the procedure
Progress
Samples before making final
"My Mother's Hospital Gown"
In summer of 2018, my mother went under surgery to get both of her ovaries removed due to a tumour growing inside her ovaries. The doctors told both my dad and I that the amount of anaesthesia that my mother's body was going to go under, would affect her short term memory temporarily. After the surgery, my mom's short term memory started to deteriorate to a point where she would need to use post it notes and tally marks to keep her day going. She would also remember my childhood vividly, and would tell me memories of me and my brother almost every day.
I wanted to challenge myself to feel vulnerable by approaching a subject extremely sensitive to me and to translate it into a garment. The form of the garment is taken by the hospital gown my mother wore for a month. The checkerboards technique of a double woven structure reminded me of the post it notes that she would write down on, and also reminded me of the organised and structure woman that she was. The fading of the checkerboards are to convey the memory loss that my mother was experiencing. The colour of the warp and the weft was a specific yellow that I dyed and took time to get it accurate as this specific yellow is my mother's favourite colour. I embroidered stitch-like strokes to depict the tally marks and stitches that are permanently marked on my mother's stomach.
Model: Annabelle Gao
Photographer: Melissa
