to split a moon in half: lesson of the silkworm
2024
ceramic, fabric, twine, silkworm cocoons, preserved silk moth, water from the final moon cycle of the year of the rabbit
This participatory installation stages different materials to form a ritual for collective healing.You are invited to scoop water using the silkworm cocoon flower from the blackened half into the lighter half awaiting to be fired after being purified by participation. Hold your shadow — a feeling, a person or a memory that you would like to hold with intention and gently release from yourself into the bowl of light.
Based off the iconic shape 달항아리, the moon jar, the two vessels were originally thrown as one whole, sealed piece. If a moon is split in half, what is discovered? Here, it is split between its light and dark counterparts.
The corners are marked by four wings of a crane, an homage to a dream and 장승, jangseung, Korean totem poles placed at the entrance of villages and used as protection from bad energy. Hanging from each wing is a garland made of twelve silkworm cocoons representing each moon cycle in a year.