Hou I-Ting has long used embroidery on old photographs to reconstruct bodies and historical images, stitching past and present together. The series of The Women of Empire revisits the history of home economics schools for girls founded in Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule, documenting scenes in which students were trained through classes in ikebana, embroidery,
and horticulture. By overlaying embroidery onto photographs that capture stereotypical images of womanhood, the series calls into question women’s bodily labor and the social roles assigned to them.