Chores 2025

The Boy and The River

A collection of ten objects crafted from wool, silver, paper, and clay.

Inspired by The Boy and The River short story written by Shaina Yang for this year’s season of Chores, this collection interprets the author’s river-bound family memory of her hometown Shanghai through lenses of wool, silver, paper, and clay — yielding ten objects created by three makers stemming from one story.

These objects — cardigan, scarf, necklace, bracelet, earrings, vases, teacups, and book — bring to life a world couched in craft and collective memory. Each talisman becomes its own named character within the world of The Boy and The River: from “The Current” that carries the river, to “The Swallow” that swoops over it, to “The Ferry” that makes it her home. The resultant collection tells many interwoven stories within its interconnected whole, each waiting to be discovered next.

39 The Boy and The River - Book

39 The Boy and The River - Postcards

40 The Current

41 The Paper Boat - Butterfly Blue

41 The Paper Boat - Inkstone Black

41 The Paper Boat - Mustard Green

42 The Willow

43 The Swallow

44 The Butterfly

45 The Bee

46 The Ferry - Draft Blue

46 The Ferry - Freeboard White

47 The Rain

48 The Clouds

Foreword by Shaina Yang

“The Boy and The River is a short story based off of a memory that I have heard recounted my whole life — one from my father’s early childhood living in the rural outskirts of 1960’s Shanghai. With it, the world of Chores 2025 was born: a dreamy, river-bound memory-of-a-memory of Shanghai — rooted in her fringes and her land and her families, rather than the hustle and bustle she’s perhaps better known for.”

“It was an incredible process to watch Joy, Anna, and Nicki draw direct inspiration from the story as they created their objects—knitwear, ceramics, and jewelry in turn—creating shapes, colors, textures, and forms from specific imagery they saw in the text.”

“I then composed short poems to pair with [each object], each rooted in the now co-created world we all had a hand in building together. The objects became a cast of named characters that lived in this world — ones that you can acquaint yourselves with … from The Willow to The Clouds and all in between.”

“By creating this site for connection, collaboration, imagination, and inspiration between companions, we all were able to make far beyond what any of us could have dreamed up separately. By choosing to enshrine the process, we capture this moment in time itself—time that we have chosen to share and to make together.”

Shaina Yang
August 2025

© Chores 2025

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