Zhouyan Sun

“Even the most ordinary mother-daughter relationship can hold very subtle complexity.”

Every mother has been a daughter, and every daughter can be a mother or has been one already. They are contained within each other, and such relationships will circle endlessly. The mother seeks a double in her daughter, and the daughter, sooner or later, will find herself grown into her mother as if by destiny.

undercurrent* investigates the relationship between mother and daughter through the lens of seven films from different culture backgrounds. It delves into the intricate subtleties of this bond, exploring how a mother often perceives her daughter as her alter ego, and how daughters may inevitably grow to embody aspects of their mothers. This exploration underscores the notion of their inseparability throughout a lifetime.

This subject is highly underrepresented, yet the relationship remains a most complicated one of all. As described in the book – “It can be fiery like dynamite; it can be sweet as honey; but most of the time it’s like a glass of lukewarm water with something brewing underneath”.

In this particular representation, language and imagery hold equal significance, each encompassing the other, much like the relationship between mother and daughter.

‘Verse in Form: Generative Sheet Poetry’ is a generative design project that transforms the poems of the talented female poet Emily Dickinson into visual compositions. Created using P22 Blox in LCC letterpress room, the graphic forms mirror the structure and rhythm of her verses, much like a poetry score. The design was generated based on poetry attributes including stressed and unstressed syllables, capitalisation, dashes and rhymes.

Blending the poetic elegance of Dickinson’s words with the geometric precision of modernist design, the outcome embodies a Bauhaus aesthetic. This project aims to explore the intersection of literature and generative design and create a harmonious dialogue between textual and graphic forms.

All the poems are selected from Fascicle One and Fascicle Two in Emily Dickinson’s Poems: As She Preserved Them (2016). Each line of poem contains no more than 7 syllables.

Seal is a font that is inspired by Small Seal Script, an old Chinese writing system that dates back to 220 BC. Amazed by the fluid and organic strokes, I intended to infuse Latin letters with fresh life and challenge traditional letterforms, drawing inspiration from the essence and spirit of my cultural background. Offering 2 different styles and multiple alternatives, this unique typeface breaks away from typical type structures, opening up possibilities for interactions between letters.