Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Project 5 Final: "Stitches"


"Stitches" is a hand-made booklet that displays the aesthetic Hmong culture's symbols and meanings through their traditional Hmong clothing. The booklet is an accordion style made to enhance the poem, "Cipher Song," that speaks of a cultural aspect of Hmong history. Through many generations, Hmong have hand sewn and stitched their traditional clothing. The remarkable, handcrafted stitches are stylized to tell stories about the culture with a variety of symbols. "Stitches" shows the imagery of symbols and its meanings, which includes an english and hmong translation. The poem adds an artistic value of the culture and story to emphasize the depth of sewing for the Hmongs.






Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Narrative Final


Cipher Song
It’s come to this. We hide the stories
on our sleeves, patchwork of cotton veins.
Scribe them on carriers for sleeping
babies, weave our ballads to the sash.
Forge paper from our aprons, and our
bodies will be books. Learn the language
of jackets: the way a pleat commands
a line, the way collars unfold as page,
sign our names in thread. The footprint
of an elephant. Snail’s shell. Ram’s horn.
When the words burn, all that’s left is ash.


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