Ke Xu is an untraditional weaver who is interested in materials. Ten years of study in the UK have helped her to develop her aesthetic of western and eastern worlds combined. Ke Xu majored in woven textiles at Chelsea College of Arts before she came to the RCA. Her works are mostly inspired by people and historical fiction literature. As a material-driven textile designer, Ke Xu would like to ask people to pay more attention to the material and fabric itself while consuming from the fashion industry. She exhibited in Premiere Vision in 2018.
Ke Xu
REAPPEAR// Left Behind
During the pandemic, I got psychogenic response to the Covid-19 vaccine. It got me very depressed with suicidal tendency, which made me think about my body as a container for the soul and what could I leave behind if my body left this world. In order to express my ideal ‘container’, I started my project with researching different forms and materials. To me, the container of the soul carries my thoughts and memory. Here, my work as my essence will carry my identity and memory. It will pass on to the people who are the closest to me like an heirloom. The aim of this project was to leave my trace and memory on for the people around me. People remember their families and friends by faces and eyes. The final outcome of this project therefore is a woven mask. This represents my wish to keep minimum distance from them, focusing on the face as the most sensitive part of body.
Soul Container
Me
Common Carrier
![[untitled]](https://res.cloudinary.com/rca2020/image/upload/f_webp,h_1081,w_1920,c_fill,g_auto,q_auto/v1/rca2021/60c5d253a98c7847e5c97b4f-558755?_a=AXAH4S10)
water-soluble mask
biomaterial with woven sample
For material, I used cotton, linen, water soluble yarn and copper wire to weave. The water soluble yarn will dissolve with water and cotton will disappear after years of decay. The copper will stay for ages just like my memory to the people I care about. With combining biomaterial with my woven sample, I structured the shape of my masks.
Medium:
Biomaterial, cotton, water-solutable yarn, copper wire
context
feature
Left Behind