Street Talk: Tiana Wong
When was the last time you wrote anything by hand? Learn from Tiana Wong how to make your own notebooks and adorable necklaces with little notebook pendants. Tiana tells Emily Wu about how she builds bonds with her craft
HK: What inspired you to make handmade notebooks?
TW: I participated in the YMCA DIY Book Exhibition in 2006 and 2007. The whole idea came from the red Garden Company biscuit container, something that every family used to have at home. The death of my grandpa and second uncle in 2007 inspired me to make a handmade book and write a story to recall my time spent with them.
HK: Have you always been an art lover?
TW: You could say so. I’ve loved making dolls out of clay since I was in primary school. I was also a Japanese comics fan. I tore out a few pages of Japanese comics columns from magazines, then cut, pasted and sewed them together into a “book.”
HK: What was your entry for the YMCArts WonderLand Festival?
TW: It’s about the inheritance of culture from the older generations, and I handmade a book about my dad. Both of my parents worked in the journalistic field, and they had to work long hours. I made the paper myself, [Chinese graph paper] exactly like the kind my dad normally uses to draft or write his stories. The process of making this book about him was like imitating how he used to write his articles. I had to ask my mom to make an appointment with my dad, and we booked a table at a Chinese restaurant to do the interview. It took around two hours. I know him better through making the book.
HK: Do you send your notebook necklaces as gifts to your friends and family?
TW: Yes. I gave it to a friend who loves blue. She likes the necklace I made, but it was only when her colleagues discovered that there were words inside that she realized I had written messages to her. She then asked each of her colleagues to sign and write down something that they wanted to tell her in the mini-notebook.
HK: Your handmade items are now sold at shopping malls and flea markets. How do you feel about that?
TW: I feel thankful and delighted when people appreciate what I have made. Some say it’s quite expensive just to buy a handmade necklace for around $200. But some girls are willing to forgo their spending in other areas to buy my notebooks or necklaces. I am grateful to them.
HK: How do you keep up your skills?
TW: I went to Tokyo recently. It was a memorable trip and I learned a lot from the experts there. Handmade notebooks are so popular, and the Japanese are crazy about them. They have invented many special tools to assist with the process of making the notebooks, and they even embroider words onto them.