Fragmented Memories series, 2019-2020 part of NOTENOUGHLANGUAGE
NOTENOUGHLANGUAGE was my BFA senior honors thesis. This series questions the inadequacy of language in fully conveying my inner thoughts, reflecting on my struggle to reconcile my multiethnic identity with my surrounding environment, and my discomfort of existing in a liminal space. I have approached this by juxtaposing images I have taken while visiting my familial homelands with language questioning my existence and history in those locations. I ask and attempt to answer questions about what agency I have to my identity and how I perform race. I also seek to interrogate the disparities in the naming of myself and in foreign objects. This question and response process is disrupted by language inadequacies; a select few are able to fully understand, leaving the rest of search for an unwritten meaning. Through the process of creating this work, I uncovered a sense of longing for places and memories that have never existed; I continue to search to find a comfort in a transitional space while attempting to create and reclaim my family history. My goal is to surround the viewer in my world of fragmented language and memories, allowing them a glimpse into my liminal space, while also inviting the viewer to question their own way of labeling their identity.