Our Laundry, Our Town
$3,600.00
Price includes professional framing.
Size, unframed: 35.5″ x 31.5″ (H x W)
Size, framed: 41.25″ x 37″ x 2″ (H x W x D)
Materials: Encaustic & watercolor crayon on drafting film, saddle stitched to museum board.
Frame: Solid maple or birch with satin white lacquer finish. Profile is square.
The title of this drawing comes from Alvin Eng’s book Our Laundry, Our Town. In the first chapter, where he reflects on his family’s hand laundry service, he writes:
“The clean garments wrapped up in these laundry packages were the silent witnesses to the events and rituals that made up the lives of their wearers.”
That’s exactly how I feel about second-hand clothing. It carries traces, bears witness, and holds energy.
To create this drawing, I cut the seams from worn-out garments and arranged the scraps on my work table. The design was inspired by the map of an ancient village I once encountered. I then rubbed the seams using encaustic and watercolor crayon, capturing their outlines and revealing the physical traces left by past wearers.
This piece was made during a month-long pop-up open studio in Queens, where the public was invited to witness and engage with my daily process. You can read more about that experience in the journal.
