The land
you stand on
shapes
who you are.
Artist Vivian Qiu has lived and studied across 3 countries: China, Australia and Sweden. Her living experience in different culture shape how she thinks and makes art.
When you move around, you always take something with you and leave something behind.
Rice is the constant material that represents Chinese culture in her practice. Other materials are combined to show the essence of other places she has traveled and lived in.
Fig: Wear your ancestor, 2023, grass and soil from Sweden, rice, flour, pigment, rope, wood, glue, 110cm in length, photo credit: Geraldine Lewa
Material Research
RICE FABRIC
The creation of rice fabric was inspired by Vivian’s Chinese culture. When she was sick as a kid, her mum would make her plain rice congee.
It’s a comforting and healing food. It is crispy and crunchy, and smells of natural rice aroma.
Fig: Sentimental Rice Jewellery, 2020, rice fabric, paint, beads, thread, glue, photo credit: Vivian Qiu
RICE CLAY
24 solar terms (in the shape of cones) with mild change of colours were created to represent the how ancient Chinese observed mild changes in nature and body sensation.
Unlike the usual 4 seasons in a year, ancient Chinese stretched the length of time. They divided 24 lunisolar periods in 1 calendar year. Ancient Chinese were able to sense the mild changes in different solar terms, and farm / eat / take care of their body according to the mild difference.
Fig: 24 Solar Terms, 2023, rice, embroidery floss, photo credit: Geraldine Lewa
SOIL CLAY
Without soil, there’s no life.
The soil clay project captures Vivian Qiu’s experience of studying and living across three different countries: China, Australia, and Sweden.
When you move around, you always take something with you and leave something behind.
Wherever Vivian is situated, she observes her surroundings, collecting natural materials or everyday objects that she repeatedly encounters on her wanderings.
Utilising soil, fallen leaves, flowers and grass alongside rice, which acts as a binding agent in her work, she moulds these found materials into wearable artworks.
Connecting the wearer to place, time, and culture through materials and the ancient symbolism of oracle bone script.
Fig: Cradling you gently in the palms of my hands, 2023, grass, and soil from Sweden, rice, flour, pigment, 50cm in length, photo credit: Marina Yatsenko
When three cultures collide
‘When Rice Meets Salami’ (2023), photo credit: Geraldine Lewa
I have been living in Australia for 10+ years. When I went back to China, my family and relatives often disproved of my way of thinking, and commented that I have become ‘westernised’ and shook their heads.
When I first came to Australia, I wasn’t used to the taste of salami. After many years, I started to enjoy it. It’s like how cultures collides and interweave.
This salami necklace is made with rice, embroidery floss and local Melbourne coffee. It has messy and tangled metallic thread. You can’t really separate the influence of Chinese and western culture.
'‘Lending a hand’ (2023), Images Courtesy of Arts Manningham. Photos by Charlie Kinross.
Having the experience of living in China, Australia and Sweden, I’m start to see the different meanings behind why or how people offer help. The following examples are just my personal experience.
In my hometown Chaozhou in China, people offer help to others with an implicit expectation of getting the favour in return in the future.
In Melbourne, people are enthusiastic and seem nice to help. However, clear boundaries are set explicitly.
In Stockholm, people on the street may seem cold on the surface, but when you need help, they are very kind and so helpful.
This knitted hand consists of 3 colours representing 3 interwoven cultures. It’s made of rice, soil and coloured sand.
Collaborate with nature
Fig: Memory, 2023, soil, grass, rice, Images Courtesy of Arts Manningham. Photos by Charlie Kinross.
Take the soil and grass clay to Patterson lake, and dehydrate it on the rocks. The piece has the memory of the rocks, wind, and the sound of the water.
‘Life Line’ —
Japanese Kumihimo braiding
Vivian has been braiding her ‘Life Line’ cord wherever she traveled from Sweden, to China and then back to Australia since June 2023.
She may be braiding while listening to the sound of the sea, sitting by the lake, or sitting on the train or in the cafe.
After 4-months of braiding, she noticed the change in the rope. The braid is also a visual journal.
When she was in a holiday mode in Sweden. The braid seems loose, fluffy and relaxing. When she traveled back to China. She experienced a great level of anxiety as her parents and relatives kept telling her to get married. While she was waiting for her flight back to Australia in an airport in China, she was braiding very tensely. The braid is very tense and tight. It records her body sensation.
She continued braiding, at one point, the braid changed its own pattern without her intentionally doing so. It reminds her how our life may pivot or change direction by natural force. And it is ok. The new life path may also be a rewarding one.
The Life Line work tells her visually how her body is feeling. It continues to document every aspect of her life as an artist: the people she's met, the place she visited, and the emotion her body was holding.
Vivian shared her art journey and life philosophy behind the braid. Workshop participants were observing the mild changes of the ‘Life Line’ cord at Immigration Museum, 2023