Have you worked with archives on any other projects?
My recent project Pearl’s Daughters is based on the region where I was born and raised, the Pearl River Delta in China. Using archives, I followed the lives of migrant women who lived and worked in factories during the 1980s. They had left their hometowns and families for opportunities, yet most of the time they were seen as a collective workforce rather than individuals. These women were integral to change in a fast-developing region yet their voices have been overlooked.
Through research I found archive records as well as personal blogs and diaries, and I combined these different sources into one story. I created an illustrated book that acts as a literary collage or group portrait that responds to the shared experiences of this community of women. My intention isn’t to try to give an authoritative account of this time, but more to create an open conversation between past experiences, my work and the people looking at it.
What interested you about New River Head when you were starting your residency with Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration?
I was attracted to the complexity of the social history: I wanted to excavate stories from the past. For more than 300 years it was a busy industrial site supplying most of London’s drinking water. It was also a target during periods of rioting and war. But it has been silent for seven decades.
I was lucky to record its derelict state just before its restoration. I walked alone among its different buildings, looking for evidence of past activity and links to archived photographs and documents. Many of these documents tell conflicting stories, and I absorbed all of these when creating Lost Springs, Coming Spring, a large scale drawing that combines my direct observations and research.
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