Kindred Spirit (2001-2003)

In 2010, Flo wrote about the Kindred Spirit series and her use of cloth rice sacks in her art for the Textile Society of American 12th Biennial Symposium at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

Kindred Spirit is a tribute to Wen Ho Lee, the nuclear scientist who was arrested in December of 1999 by the U. S. government for mishandling sensitive nuclear data. The U. S. government claimed that he provided nuclear secrets to the People’s Republic of China. When Lee was arrested the Chinese American community in the United States was outraged. A movement to prove his innocence began.

My husband and I attended a Northern California fundraiser in to show our support and I vowed to make an art piece about his case. I was incensed that Lee (who was denied due process) was incarcerated for 278 days because his F. B. I. handler had lied during court proceedings.

I told the story in the format of ancient Chinese scrolls. I dyed each rice sack in a food that represented Wen Ho Lee – soy sauce, tea bags, string beans, and chili. I beaded the narrative in English from right to left in the style of traditional Chinese calligraphy. The embellished rice sacks were then sewn onto silk with floral designs. The floral symbols represented his home garden that eventually died as he languished in jail.

When I show Kindred Spirit I usually place plates of chicken bones and string beans under each scroll to symbolize the first meal that Lee cooked for his family upon his release.

I learned to quilt for the first time in the making of the piece.

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Watch the KQED SPARK episode “Remembrance” to see Flo at work in her kitchen as she constructs this work of art.

SPARK “Remembrance” – Act II – Fabric of History (see @4:45) Flo relates the plight of Wen Ho Lee, the Chinese American scientist who was wrongly accused of passing nuclear secrets to China in the 1990s and subsequently jailed. By using certain foodstuffs that Lee was denied during his 278-day incarceration, Wong portrays Lee not as a scientist, but rather, as a father who was taken away from his home and family.

SPARK “Remembrance” originally aired on September 10, 2003.