This work is quite personal as it was my response to the loss of my father in law.

As a religious man, he believed that heaven was the place he would go after he died. Did not matter how many obstacles life had been thrown in his path he always had a positive attitude towards the future. During one of his hospital staying he got a song from heaven at 2 am. He wrote it down on a piece of paper, carefully dated and at the top right corner of the paper he made a note “after midnight at 2 am”.

We lost him last year to advanced brain cancer. It has remained hard to escape those final weeks: a sudden deterioration at home, wheeling him into the ambulance to the hospital for the last time. He was the strongest among us as he never complained and never felt sorry for himself.

This work was a perfect fit for the theme of the 2019 Beijing International Jewellery Art Exhibition, Guan-Tong.
Guan-Tong means passing through and connection and also means communicate to the other side, or understanding.

For making these brooches I used some of the words of my father in law’s song. Copied his handwriting by bending the wire, which was collected by him, and placed them into sand and charcoal.

Sand, charcoal, plywood, copper wire, blackened silver
Silver, dust, and plywood