Week 4: Cordiality
500 word reflection
Over the past few weeks, I’ve started to recognise the kinds of materials and methods I’m naturally drawn to. I consistently gravitate towards soft materials and textiles, as well as raw and organic materials, and I enjoy processes that feel handmade and artisanal. There’s something important to me about tactility and working with my hands, where the process feels slow, considered, and connected to the material. This has become a clear strength in my practice, and something I want to continue building on.
At the same time, I’ve realised that one of my biggest challenges has been my inability to fully trust the process. I often find it difficult to let myself be messy or experimental, and I tend to approach making with a fixed goal or outcome in mind. Because of this, I struggle to explore freely or make without expectations. There’s still a strong fear of failing or not reaching a certain standard, which holds me back. I’ve realised that my issue isn’t the outcomes I produce, but the way I approach the process, where I often avoid risk and unfamiliar exploration. Moving forward, I need to trust my making skills more and allow them to guide me, rather than trying to control the outcome too early. I think this shift is necessary if I want my work to feel more authentic and innovative.
Because of this mental and creative block, I also feel like I haven’t extended myself as much as I could have. This connects to feedback I received around week 3, where it was pointed out that I have a lot of exploration of individual materials and methods, but I need to start
thinking about how they can be combined. This idea of working “in between” materials and processes feels like an important next step for me. Because my discipline is product design, I was strongly encouraged to experiment with forms in combination with materials and methods in the future.
This interest feels closely tied to my identity. Growing up as Japanese-Chinese in New Zealand, I’ve always existed between cultures, learning how to navigate and connect different perspectives. This has led me to value the idea of bringing people and cultures together. I’ve begun to notice this value being connected in my material practice as well, especially in how I’m drawn to exploring the relationship between hard and soft materials, and how contrasting elements interact and inform one another.
From here, I want to continue exploring how opposing qualities can work together, such as soft vs hard, comfort vs stability or geometric vs organic forms. By combining materials and being more intentional with the form I design, I hope the connections I am starting to see can be applied and expressed though my making.