Ang Li

My jewelry collection is about homesickness. It draws inspiration from the countless moments over the past four years I spent studying in New York when I deeply missed home—like when I was working late at the sewing machine, or when I couldn’t sleep at night because of stress. During the Chinese New Year, seeing lanterns in Chinatown or eating tanghulu in Flushing would instantly transport my thoughts back to the alleyways of Shanghai. I wanted this collection to feel playful, so I created many symbolic elements. I used a stick figure to represent myself and combined it with motifs such as the moon,tanghulu, lanterns, sewing needles, and wings to form this series of jewelry pieces.

I chose brass as the primary material for my jewelry because its vibrant color and unique texture are truly one of a kind. I explored both metal sawing and wax carving with casting techniques. Later, I incorporated enamel—a craft I’ve been fascinated with since my junior year—into these pieces. My color palette consists of red, gold, and white. The interplay of red and white echoes the colors of the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, while gold symbolizes my hope of returning home.

Since sophomore year, my pressure has suddenly increased significantly. I realized that I don't like sewing, so every time I sew in the classroom until late at night, I feel extremely frustrated. I look at the moon outside and know that I can't go to sleep, because if I do, I won't be able to finish making the clothes. As a result, my mental state has also started to deteriorate. When I can't fall asleep, I can't help but think of the song my mother used to sing to put me to sleep when I was a child - "The curved moon is a little boat, the little boat has pointed ends. I sit in the little boat and can only see the shining stars and the blue sky."

When I feel homesick, I subconsciously want to be in a place where people speak my hometown dialect. So I often go to Chinatown and Flushing. I eat tanghulu and watch the lanterns during the Spring Festival. In this way, my lonely heart can find some comfort.

After leaving Chinatown, I went back to school and started working at the sewing machine. The stress made me think about getting my finger pricked. I just lay in bed doing nothing, and then there were more and more things to do, all in a mess.

As I look at the moon and my mother's song rings in my mind again, I wish I could traverse mountains and seas, or even grow wings to fly back to my warm home.