Tiger Robe (1998)
woodcut print (Japanese paper, sumi ink), string
180 x 93 cm

An ancient Chinese tale “借虎威 Tora no i o karu” from the Zhan Guo Ce (Strategies of the Warring States) in the Warring States period depicts a fox pretending to be strong under the shelter of a tiger’s influence. The tiger-pattern robe, once scattered and stitched back together, represents the fragility of the dignity of the patriarch in “middle-class” family.