England’s Orient,
China’s Occident.

The English Willow pattern is a chinoiserie plate pattern produced by Thomas Lucas and James Richards at the end of the 19th century. The pattern is characterised by Chinese elements such as a bridge, a garden fence, a pair of birds, and details of pavilions, etc. Willow pattern plates is evidence of the exotification and appropriation of Chines culture, which is from westerner’s imagination.

SIAS University in Zhengzhou, China, features a full-scale replica of Big Ben and a street modeled after Regent Street, exemplifying a reversed form of cultural imitation. Inspired by the Willow pattern, I designed a plate featuring a photograph of the replica Big Ben in China. While the original Willow pattern constructs a stereotyped and romanticized vision of a Chinese garden—designed by the English and produced in England—my Big Ben plate challenges this colonial history. As a Chinese artist, I intentionally designed it to be made in a Chinese ceramic factory, reversing the historical dynamic of cultural representation.