Investigation of Mother-Daughter Relationships in China: An Installation Art Study

Abstract

Against the backdrop of China’s one-child policy and 40 years of rapid social development, mother-daughter relationships have profoundly suffered, especially in Chinese families where two or three generations have born a single female child. When discussing “motherhood” in China, the traditional practice is to celebrate the belief in “great maternal love”, but the relationship between mother and daughter is very complex and delicate. This study challenges the Chinese tradition and precept of “mother’s kindness and daughter’s filial piety” and “mother’s love is great” by attempting to represent the “mother-daughter relationship” through the medium of installation art, which is underexplored in the arts. This study has two aims: to describe mother-daughter relationships through installation art and to investigate mother-daughter relationships through installation art. The study found the research gap through a review of literature, a case study, and an image analysis.

The researcher collected data on the relationship between mothers and daughters using cross-sectional research, sample studies, and unstructured interviews. And The researcher conducted an installation art experiment through practical reasoning to obtain a set of installation artworks on the relationship between mothers and daughters and an exhibition entitled “Will I be You when I Grow up?” on Mother’s Day. The effects of this research were demonstrable through participant observation and the quantitative analysis of audience message cards.
This study contributes to an artist’s path to achieving accurate expression and provoking social reflection through art.