MOVANA CHEN: (Cantonese) Paper isn’t just a piece of paper. When there’s a blank sheet, you need to give it a story.

I am Movana Chen. I grew up in Hong Kong. Why did I become an artist? I never thought I would become one. But during the SARS epidemic, my dad’s company had to close down and relocate to mainland China. As I helped him to shred company document, I got the idea to take a magazine I liked, shred it and knit the shreds into a dress. That was my first artwork, and how I started [my journey as an artist] .

The ‘Body Container’ series began in 2005. I created over 10 pieces for the series, each using a different material. More recently, in 2021, I created a new work. The inspiration was ‘questioning the line’. During the Covid lockdown, I noticed symbols on the pavements, a human figure or a circle [indicating] one is forbidden to overstep the line. Human interaction all over the world came to a stop. In ‘Body Container’, there’s a two-metre distance between the figures. It explores why we need to keep two metres apart from others. I moved to Portugal in 2021, and began creating this piece shortly afterwards. I hadn’t finished knitting this piece at the time. I invited a performer I had just met in Portugal to take part, his name was Francisco. I also asked a photographer I had met in Los Angeles, named Tyler to join us. The three of us rented a camper van, and went on a 23-day trip starting in Portugal. It felt as if all places were calling us, yet we, the performer and I, were just in the stillness inside the sculptures. The sculptures could be worn, they were shredded maps knitted together, an exploration of the human-nature relationship.

The work ‘Knitting Conversations’ is about interpersonal interaction and participation. All the materials and locations, everything about the work is related to people. In the many years since I first began this work. I met some very special people. For instance, I went to Korea, Milan, Tel Aviv in Israel. When you weave others’ stories into your work, every stitch carries the stories of many. The participants were aged 3 to 80, even my paternal grandma was involved. All the materials were donated by friends. I collected them from people around the world maps, dictionaries, books. They gave me their personal belongings. I shredded then transformed them, wove them together, connecting them to other people. These people didn’t know each other, but through knitting, they’re now in a close-knit situation. My works do not have endings. They’re perpetually ongoing.

The latest extension of my projects is map-knitting. First, Hong Kong maps then maps belonging to friends from all over the world. It’s a new project titled ‘A Home for All’. The project began in Hong Kong. In the next decade, it could turn into a larger version of ‘Knitting Conversations’, ultimately involving some 1,000 or 10,000 participants. This is just the start of the journey. It will tour the world. I will modify a vehicle, an old camper van. It will be my studio home on the road. I’ll put ‘A Home for All’ and 10 to 20 knitting needles in the van, as well as works already begun here. Other people will join in along the way, I’ll produce a video about this project and a photodocument. I’ll collect stories from different people, write down their names and contact information, keep in touch with them.

If I do all my knitting in a studio, I’ll lose connection with the real world. When I go outside, I see people in the flesh and interact with them. The richness of the work will always be there.