A good yarn

Chen knits together various pieces to form a tapestry for her solo exhibition Kniterature.

Chen asked participants to send this body of work to her to be shredded, and she sends the ribbons back to him or her to be knitted into a textile. If participants don't know how to knit, she shows them online or teaches them in person. They then send their work back to her in Hong Kong to form the tapestry.

Participants include lifelong knitters and novices, men and women between 5 and 80 years old. Some of the pieces come back with dropped stitches or gaping holes.

Chen believes these imperfections make up the beauty of the overall paper blanket. Throughout the 2-year-long project, she held knitting sessions with friends in cafes, on the beach or in their homes. Many develop into deeply moving moments as participants relive memories contained in the literature they are knitting.

"I am the eldest of seven," says Chen. "My grandmother taught me to knit when I was around 12 and still living in Chaozhou. Since I had so many siblings, I was always knitting a scarf for someone during the winter or a sweater for another who went to study abroad. I only know how to knit - I don't embroider, crochet or anything else. I just know the knit stitch; I don't pearl. For me, it's a meditative experience." Talking about the inspiration, she says:"I came up with the idea of knitting paper when I was working in accounting. It was a busy, high-pressured job. I welcomed the chance to shred documents, which I did a lot.