Drawing from the dual experiences of growing up a third generation Chinese American and the loss of my father to lung cancer, my work explores my cultural identity, ancestral relationships, and feelings of longing and separation. I work primarily with drawing, printmaking, photography, installation, and the book arts. I use personal mythology, Chinese symbolism and numerology, and my family’s archive to explore themes of temporality, grief, speculation, family, and mortality.
A large part of my research examines intergenerational parallels between my grandparents, my parents, and myself, and exploring how such similarities and differences collapse time.
Using symbols such as the moth, the Chinese pan chang knot, and photographic imagery from the familial archive, I attempt to connect disparate points in time and space, drawing attention to synchronicities between the present and the past. In doing so, I hope to reinterpret my ancestral history, while uncovering new truths about my connection to my heritage.
I engage further with the idea of intertwined temporalities through the use of layers in printmaking, as well as the use of translucent and double sided material like shrink plastic and reflective material like mirrors or metallic ink. In this way, the materiality of my work is linked to the conceptual thought behind my research, and I take both into consideration when creating.
