Participatory Art
Vessel of Fruit Memories
Project Description
Vessel of Fruit Memories was a participatory art project framed as culturally rooted digital painting workshop. It was designed for older immigrant adults in San Jose who ranged in age from 55 to 84. Participants used an iPad to create imaginative or memory-based fruit artworks which I assembled inside a collective 3-dimensional object, the “Vessel”.
This project supported digital inclusion, cultural storytelling, and creativity. It bridged art and community in a playful, respectful way that honored the lived experience of participants while introducing new creative tools.
Community Partner
City of San Jose Parks & Recreation Department, Sourcewise Community Resource Solutions, Digilink Program in partnership with the California Department of Aging
Note: With consent from participants, moments from the project were photographed and are included here as part of my artistic process and portfolio.
After much deliberation, I decided that the “vessel” for fruit should be recreated as a grocery bag. I sewed one out organza and used it to envelope a pillow I sewed from the participant’s digital artwork. The dangling fabric receipt stores their fruit memories.
There were fourteen participants divided into two digital art workshops. Participants ranged in age from 55 to 84.
We started off with a storytelling responding to the question "What fruit reminds you of home?"
Participants filled out a worksheet with more questions about the fruit memory, its approximate date and project consent.
Our oldest participant was 84. Their family owned a local farm for several generations.
Participants mentioned that drawing felt "therapeutic and calming," and that they seemed to prefer digital art over analog.
Thank you in Vietnamese, Spanish and English -- San Jose's dominant languages. I sewed the grocery bag out of pink organza.
A fabric receipt stores their fruit memories.
Participant's artwork was printed and ironed on a soft amorphous pillow form.
Project Description
Under construction