Seeking the Dragon Gate
Cotton and rayon embroidery floss on cotton fabric.
10.5″ x 15″
2021
The inspiration for this piece is from a Vietnamese folk tale called Leaping over the Dragon Gate and Kitchen God Who Rides a Carp to Heaven. The carp in the story symbolizes successful learning. In the story, only the carp passes all three rounds of god’s exam and transforms into a dragon to serve people. Adversity is a learning process that can turn a simple carp into a dragon. On February 23rd, before the Lunar New Year, the Kitchen God uses a carp to fly to heaven for his annual report. While carp releasing is a traditional custom, I think nowadays, among younger people, this ritual is done hastily without reflecting on its meaning. I have chosen the lotus and carp because the carp’s diligence turns them into dragons— an image of power in Asian iconography – and the lotus represents enlightenment. Rather than complaining about their mucky condition, the lotus uses nutrients in the mud to help them grow.
These two iconographies in Vietnamese tales have always inspired me.
