Swimming to Hong Kong (click image for info)

Almost half a century ago, May escaped starvation in rural China by first teaching herself to swim, and then, incredibly, swimming all the way from mainland China to Hong Kong before she eventually ended up in Toronto, Canada.

In this quilt I created all the fabrics to represent her amazing journey. Using Colour Vie pigments I painted the bottom fabric to represent empty rice bowls. I dyed the silk in Indigo to represent the perilous water she swam through. The black/gold represent her fear and hope of the Gold Mountain – with the green hand stitching representing her future life in Canada. The red pieces represent her memories of China.

In Private Collection.

Questions? Just contact me.