Ruby Chang-Jet White, 回口 (the reply), 2024

Ruby Chang-Jet White
回口 (the reply), 2024
recycled yarn, mixed chain, bells, heart charm.
1800x1800mm

This hand-tufted rug was made for a partnership project between Bus Projects (Naarm) and The Physics Room and shown in both Residual Heat (Bus Projects, 2024), and Yawning at the Fray (The Physics Room, 2024). 回口 (the reply) is the
first work White has made since having a baby.

Two drifting-reaching figures, one bearing a child, compose an ouroboros, the helix of DNA, an earth-bound realm attempting to make contact with the otherworldly. The Mandarin characters for “help me” are subtly shaved into 回口 (the reply), like a whisper.

*****

Ruby Chang-Jet White is a Chinese-Malaysian Hakka and Pākehā artist who works predominantly with food and ceramics. White uses inherited memory, craft and tacit knowledge, to reflect on and explore histories, intimacy and
bridging worlds. White ran Small Fry, an artist-run cafe at Te Tuhi from 2017-18. She was the 2021 Enjoy Summer Artist in Residence at the Rita Angus Cottage, which resulted in her solo exhibition Pieces of (Enjoy, 2021). White’s work has been included in the group exhibitions gap [ 黄馨贤박성환嫦潔 ] filler (Studio One
Toi Tū, 2023), and Nectar (Mangere Arts Centre, 2019).