Jiali Li

The Mouse Did It

"Maybe everyone has friends, but not everyone has imaginary friends. Having imaginary friends is a normal psychological and social phenomenon. The body of the works is derived from questionnaires about what imaginary friends look like. Among these imaginary friends, the designs are selected and their characteristics are extracted and enlarged for redesigning. This thesis collection is a series of brooches, mainly composed of sterling silver, epoxy and textiles. It is divided into three parts, namely Bean Suit Man, The Mouse Did It and Soldier Duckling. This series of works aims to evoke the good memories of imaginary friends from people who have had imaginary friends and to bring people to think and discuss imaginary friends."

“The little mice are B's imaginary friends. B used to dissociate from some of his actions as a child and then transfer his duty to the mice. He would blame the mice that lived on the floors and rafters of his bedroom and deny his actions. Based on this brief description, Jiali designed a mischievous little mouse and a majestic mouse king. The little mouse played with the thread that was ripped from the mouse king's cape. Who did it? It's not me anyway! It's "The mouse did it". In psychology, denialism is when a person denies reality as a way to avoid a psychologically uncomfortable truth. This brooch is full of fun while also discussing the psychological meaning of "denial" and what happens when a child is in denial - passing the buck. Imaginary friends also allow children to show their true selves. For example, sometimes someone does not want to take responsibility, so he transfers the responsibility to the mice. The mice were taking the blame for him. ”