45 symbols
2018
Project
Digital graphic
The Hmong are an ethnic group that doesn’t have their own country. They originated from China and slowly migrated down into the mountains of Laos. It has been said that at one point the Hmong did have a written language, but the language was destroyed by the Chinese people. During the times of ancient China, the Chinese wanted to make sure they were the dominant race in China. Even though most of the language was destroyed, the Hmong woman sewed hidden messages within the clothes they wear and sew.
The goal is to create 45 embroidery symbols that continues the traditions of the lost written language of the Hmong.
To get a start on the project I had to do some research on how the Hmong woman came up with the designs they created in the past and the meaning behind them.
I found out that majority of the embroidery designs were created from the environments that surround the Hmong. Some symbols has meanings behind the design and majority of the messages were words of encouragement and hope. They used animals throughout majority of their embroidery designs. With this in mind, I decided to see if I can create some embroidery designs with the local animals in Laos that Hmong woman didn’t use in the past.
