Collection
Sara Tse
Hong Kong/Melbourne b.1974
clockwise from top left:
Dress no. 69 2003
Dress no. 68 2003
Dress no. 66 2003
Trans/form no. 9.1 2003
Trans/form no. 10.2 2003
Porcelain, fabric dipped in slip and fired
Dimensions variable
Purchased 2004. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant
Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
Sara Tse
Trans/form no. 9.1 and no. 10.2 2003
Dress no. 66, no. 68 and no. 69 2003
Sara Tse was born in Hong Kong in 1974. Her fragile, visually haunting objects are made from porcelain, a medium which historically has indicated stature and wealth in China, Japan, Korea and Europe. Tse carefully dips pieces of everyday clothing in liquid porcelain. Once firing is complete, a delicate shell or imprint of the fabric is left, the result of the fluid porcelain slipping around the fibres of material before they disintegrate.
Tse’s work challenges the reverence for objects made from porcelain, contrasting it with the throwaway culture of fashion and trends in Hong Kong. Her objects are powerful in their summoning of a ghostly presence; these items of clothing only hint at the objects from which they are made.
