Wenqi Li

Carry Mate is a series of soft, body-close bags with creature-like forms. The project explores how touch can offer comfort and emotional security in everyday life. In a time shaped by digital mediation and reduced physical contact, gentle and direct tactile experiences become increasingly important.

Each bag is designed in response to bodily gestures such as holding, pressing, or hugging. The long, hair-like surfaces invite touch and slow interaction, allowing the object to move beyond function and act as a quiet companion. Vulnerability is treated not as a weakness, but as a shared condition, while softness is understood as a form of strength.

The works are made combining hand tufting and wool felting techniques. Shaped for the body, the bags hold moments of tension, pause, or release, offering a place for emotion to rest, to be carried, and to be held.