Date of Award

Spring 5-30-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Textiles

First Advisor

Anais Missakian

Second Advisor

Elizabeth Scull

Third Advisor

Dennis Congdon

Abstract

This thesis work arose from my interest and concern in the ongoing transformation happening in China socially, culturally, and environmentally. As a child of hydro engineers, I grew up on the construction site of Lishui Hydro project. In my experience, the hydroelectric plant was a poetic place, a huge geometric structure surrounded by beautiful water and views of mountains. In my research, I found that many people argue against hydro projects, especially Three Gorges Dam, and the main focus of their objections has to do with demolition and the displacement of people from their homes. Through publications, documentary films, and interviews I gained a clearer view of what happened to people in the flooded reservoir area below the dam. In the process of developing my own perception I looked at artists who took this subject on, both objectively or subjectively.

Through my textiles, I try to reinforce my ideas through different colors of dye and material texture: I take the hydro project as a symbol of a transforming society; it wipes away a lot of things; it casts a strict structure onto the land and the public, while it also creates something new. It’s a sign of modernization, but it’s not the end of it.

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