Jiali Li

Bean Suit Man

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.

“Bean Suit Man is A's imaginary friend, a bean who lives in a hollow bean suit. Bean Suit Man's hobby is collecting, sorting and hiding beans. The pods and the round shape of the beans give A a sense of security. At first, the pod-shaped creature in A's mind came from the virtual doll figure "Grag" from an animated show he watched as a child. It was an ugly but cute creature that looked like a mixture of a bean and a monkey. From then on, the pod/bean form planted a seed in A's heart. He made many sketches of the bean/pod-shaped creature and created some related objects. The companionship and security that comes with imaginary friends are rewarding for A. The bean Suit Man not only provides A with imaginary companionship but also provides great help in emotional regulation.The label on the Bean Suit Man is "freedom". He is very confident, not afraid of anything and daring to do anything. As a wearable accessory, Bean Suit Man's hands and feet are made of magnets and fabric. In this case, the wearer is free to swing the shape of the Bean Suit Man. The arms and legs that connect the hands and feet to the body are made of thread and beads, which gives the wearer the flexibility to position the hands and feet freely. The optimistic and confident Bean Suit Man is the embodiment of the creator's ideals. Bean Suit Man is a brooch that can be freely interpreted by people. This means that the way you think will influence the Bean Suit Man you see.”