Faculty of Art

Drawing and Painting

liane chan

mercy, my mother

still life painting of a porcelain statue of Guanyin, the Buddhist deity of Mercy, holding a baby boy.The societal expectation for a Woman to marry and birth a son reiterates and emphasizes Confucius cisheteromisogyny, relegating Women to the domestic sphere solely for child rearing, while prioritizing male lineage. Statues depicting Guanyin with Child are intended to bless fertility, give luck for pregnant women, and provide protection during Labour. This particular statue was obtained from my maternal grandmother after her death in 2018, and had bore witness to generations of child rearing. Through recognition and connection to feminine sacrifice, I was overwhelmed with an intense sense of sympathy for lonely Guanyin - diligently protecting the baby, all alone in a storage box. Touching upon epigenetic memory, the autonomy of Objects, and familial piety, I acknowledge and the divine feminine embodiment of mercy as more than a porcelain tchotchke. Through this portrayal, I show reverence and honour my grandmother, my mother, and Guanyin herself, to alleviate my guilt for benefitting from maternal sacrifices.