In Mandarin, there is a phrase 宁做鸡头不做凤尾 (one would rather be a chicken’s head than a phoenix’s tail), often used to express the desire to be a big fish in a small pond rather than the one who falls behind amongst the greats.

The artwork reinterprets this phrase into the context of the matrilineage and the cycle of generational trauma passed down along it. Two knots are utilised in the piece — above, the lark’s head knot of daybreak and selfhood; below, the phoenix tail knot of rebirth and healing, whose tail is transformed into a yonic noose.