Jing Yi Kuah

"Come and eat" consists of two parts, a ceramic bowl and an illustrated book, and draws inspiration from the relationship between craft and emotion to tell a personal narrative. The bowl and the book are presented together, complementing each other to present a narrative to the audience.

The book incorporates elements of the ceramic bowl, such as its textures, into its illustrations. Additionally, the process of crafting the ceramic bowl is intertwined within the story.

I invite readers to reflect upon their own experiences with grief and loss while engaging with my project, prompting them to think about how heavy emotions like these can be engaged with and further understood through craft-making.

Food plays a significant role in Chinese rituals and festivals. I noticed it from how my family shared mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, came together with huge bowls of raw ingredients for our annual Chinese New Year steamboat, and how we prepared and offered food to our ancestors during the Qingming Festival.

My grandmother also often cooked food for my family, and we would sit around the table, sharing hearty dishes with rice often being the staple food. I created a ceramic bowl the size of a rice bowl using the hand-building technique, which symbolises my honouring and appreciation of my grandmother’s beliefs.

The ceramic bowl was made using clay extracted from the soil in Singapore, which allows for the various colours and textures of the soil components to be seen on the final piece of clay.

Featuring excerpts of conversations I had with my grandmother about her religious practices, the book features a personal narrative of my journey of discovering, understanding and eventually practising my grandmother’s faith.

Weaving in textures of the ceramic bowl into the illustrations, I aim to tell a personal narrative through illustrations and ceramic art, showing how grief and loss can be confronted through craft-making.