Rebuilding the Verification of Existence
Xiaoqing Rong
Xiaoqing Rong was born and raised in Beijing, China. She has received the B.F.A. in jewelry from Pratt Institute with a minor in fashion design. During her senior year of study the Covid outbreak spread across the world. This crisis deeply influenced her practice which started to focus on negative emotions and self-acceptance. Through her work, she visualized vulnerability and sensitivity. In her recent collection, Rebuilding the verification of existence, she reconstructs life’s details and objects, through construction and deconstruction. The depression, anger, and anxiety might disappear within time, but her process of expression and acceptance has become an irreplaceable core.
Artist Statement
Rebuilding the Verification of Existence
Rebuilding the Verification of Existence records my progress from the solitude of the Covid pandemic towards self-acceptance. In this process, I witnessed myself in various states of social distress. Limited activity, social distance and extended time spent alone led to anxiety, loneliness, fear, and confusion. In this society, being vulnerable, sentimental and authentic seems to be wrong. Those concentrated depressing emotions illustrate an image of myself that I have never seen before, and introduce me to the importance of self-acceptance. This thesis has become an act of self-improvement. I do not want to fight against these negative emotions; but rather, as in Eastern philosophy, I want to move with the resistance; to go with the flow.
During the Covid pandemic, NYC and the world has slowed down a bit; everything moves slowly. This allowed me to look at my surroundings and see things I have never seen before. Every object in this collection has a trace of real life. They visualize the beauty and fragility of these so-called negative feelings. Life’s traces bring nostalgic feelings of having a connection with someone or something. Words explaining emotions are abstract, general, and overused. Instead, I designed objects that can be touched by and connected with the body, to imitate and embody feelings. By incorporating transparent materials such as acrylic, resin and crystals with sterling silver, these feelings are captured in each piece of jewelry
The "self" in this collection includes not only me but also other people in similar situations. By touching these negative feelings, we ground ourselves in the world, assuring ourselves that we can exist in different ways to explore who we are and where we belong.
Rebuilding Mistakes
Rebuilding Mistakes is a sub-collection of Rebuilding the Verification of Existence. The purpose of this collection is creating a sustainable production process.
Each piece in this collection is the results of material exploration for the main collection. Thus, some features are similar to the main collection, either in structure or material. However, because different treatments were applied to the reused materials, more bold and random compositions appear in this line.
Rebuilding the Verification of Existence records my progress from the solitude of the Covid pandemic towards self-acceptance. In this process, I witnessed myself in various states of social distress. Limited activity, social distance and extended time spent alone led to anxiety, loneliness, fear, and confusion. In this society, being vulnerable, sentimental and authentic seems to be wrong. Those concentrated depressing emotions illustrate an image of myself that I have never seen before, and introduce me to the importance of self-acceptance. This thesis has become an act of self-improvement. I do not want to fight against these negative emotions; but rather, as in Eastern philosophy, I want to move with the resistance; to go with the flow.
During the Covid pandemic, NYC and the world has slowed down a bit; everything moves slowly. This allowed me to look at my surroundings and see things I have never seen before. Every object in this collection has a trace of real life. They visualize the beauty and fragility of these so-called negative feelings. Life’s traces bring nostalgic feelings of having a connection with someone or something. Words explaining emotions are abstract, general, and overused. Instead, I designed objects that can be touched by and connected with the body, to imitate and embody feelings. By incorporating transparent materials such as acrylic, resin and crystals with sterling silver, these feelings are captured in each piece of jewelry
The "self" in this collection includes not only me but also other people in similar situations. By touching these negative feelings, we ground ourselves in the world, assuring ourselves that we can exist in different ways to explore who we are and where we belong.
Rebuilding Mistakes
Rebuilding Mistakes is a sub-collection of Rebuilding the Verification of Existence. The purpose of this collection is creating a sustainable production process.
Each piece in this collection is the results of material exploration for the main collection. Thus, some features are similar to the main collection, either in structure or material. However, because different treatments were applied to the reused materials, more bold and random compositions appear in this line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTC7QygN7zc&t=40s
Jewelry Design : Xiaoqing Rong | Film : Ren Zheng
Rebuilding the Verification of Existence | 2021