Sunhee Moon
Recollections of Jeju Island: Remembering through Touch
Instagram @sunheemoon.design
Remembering through Touch
This project tried to capture fragments of my past, solidifying them in clay and binding them in wool, tying them to the present through objects.
It uses a diverse array of design methods and mapping techniques to reimagine memories drawn from time spent with family on Jeju Island during my childhood. I used ceramic and textile production methods to create a picnic-like experience that reimagines the past as a tactile feast, bringing those distant, close.
My project explored the question: how we might keep memories of shared family experiences alive by designing objects used in daily life? If that memory is given a physical shape and form, can it remain in the present for longer? Making memories with all your tactile senses, it becomes possible to move your sensory record into your long-term memory, ensuring the recollection. Objects crafted with intent offer an active means to engage one's tactile senses by creating physical and visual sensations. In this way, crafted items provide an excellent medium to transport the landscape and spaces of memory, through touch and feel, back into our busy lives.
The travels I took with my family when I was young became the inspiration for this research. Reconstructing these journeys, I explored haptic design and created evocative colour palettes to represent the passage of time. Inspired by Jeju Island's colours, shapes, and textures, I have explored the relationship between geographic and emotional topography. I have combined ceramics and textiles to craft experiences that evoke the land as a site for memory. I hope that many people can learn how to remember their memories through touch by looking at my work.
