Photo: Barton Bennison
Photo: Marinco Kojdanovski. © Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
Photo: Barton Bennison
Transcript
Sydney artist Benjamin expresses a complex identification with place, one of the aspects of creative work that I have looked for. Through her metalwork, Elise expresses the feeling of being caught between two cultures – China and Australia. Her father ambitiously wanted her to become an accountant or lawyer; Elise chose to be an artist. The discomfort of the wearable copper Cheongsam, hand cut from copper sheeting, is like a corset, and epitomises the family strains and expectations of their relationship. Words such as accountant, lawyer, try, achieve, you must do well, are hand cut into the metal. Chinese words such as haau seon (respect for and duty to one's elders) reflect her father's conflicting opinions. The hand cut patterns have many complicated meanings for Elise. She is keen that other young Chinese people understand they are not the only ones who live with the burden of conflicting cultural expectations in their families. Elise incorporates words into many of her designs. She presented a very powerful sense of place through this work, one of the requirements that we looked for in this award.
Cheongsam
Elise Benjamin
Dimensions
800 x 400 x 240 mm
Materials
Garment: sheet copper, saw-pierced by hand, raised and formed
Artist statement
‘I am an Australian-born Chinese, raised in Hong Kong, returning in my teens to complete secondary school. I had a conservative upbringing, my parents were strict and much was expected of me regarding my education and career. Chinese success in parenting is measured by academic achievement.
This lace project is about my culture and my struggle to break free from convention. It is for all those that don’t fit in a mould, for those Chinese black sheep like me – those that are too Westernised to be Chinese and too Chinese to be Western.
The cheongsam is the traditional Chinese cultural dress. My cheongsam is rigid like a cage. It is beautiful to look at and uncomfortable to wear, yet it is wearable. It is as confining and restricting as my culture.
It is laced with words in Chinese and English. Words that suppressed and criticized, contrasted with words of hope and desire.’