Holding, Marking

Holding, Marking is a patchwork quilt which I began before I was pregnant, responding to the quilts my grandmother made for my brother and I. I continued working on it throughout my pregnancy and into my postpartum months. It has become a ritual object I have returned to again and again. Fragments of clothing from before I was pregnant that no longer fit me, alongside sections of bedsheets from my early postpartum days are stitched into the quilt alongside Singaporean Batik and found fabric. The work honours my transition into motherhood, holding it with care, while also connecting me to my grandmother’s quilting practice. The quilt remains in progress - open, evolving and in a state of becoming. 

I built the frame to give the quilt weight, and to literally hold it with care.  It is joined using mortise and tenon joints secured with bronze dowels—an elegant, simple and strong method of joining wood at right angles, used across cultures for thousands of years. I also cast concrete weights that slot over the back of the frame. These serve the practical purpose of stabilising the structure, while also introducing a sense of groundedness and weight that echoes the work’s emotional concerns.

Holding, Marking offers a deeply personal and tender honouring of early motherhood—a period of emotional and existential transformation that rarely receives the attention it deserves. It honours matrescence, Southeast Asian craft, and textile practices passed down between women. Although rooted in my own experience, I hope it resonates more broadly - an invitation to viewers to reflect on the stories and relationships embedded in the materials used.

Photography by Studio Reverse Magic and Yang-En Hume