Medium: Xuan Paper, Woodblock Prints, Canvas, Wheatpaste, Ink

Dimensions: 6.5'h x 11.5'w

"You Are Here" is a work of collaged woodblock prints. It consists of three landscapes depicting my families home city, Taishan, to the city they immigrated to, San Francisco. Revisiting these different locations through carving the block allowed me to physically remove and combine multiple narratives. It's been interesting finding a balance in my identity as a second generation Chinese American female. I never felt American enough sometimes and never Chinese enough in other cases. I wanted to respect the journey of cultures my family took and also find a way to respect and accept my hybrid identity. 

My grandma was a math teacher in China. When she would take care of me and my sister, she would turn our strays into math marathons. From the moment we arrived, she’d have us tackling problems she scribbled on scrap paper, guiding us through equations all day. 

 Has Audio: Pick up the phone to listen

Title: “妹妹接電話 (Younger Sister Answer the Phone)”

Materials: Telephone, Decals, Audio

Child language brokering is a role that is commonly assigned with the children of immigrants. Children take on a responsibility to help interpret and translate for their family. My sister and I were the first born in the United States and naturally aided our family in translating English to Chinese and vice versa. Things to translate ranged from simple phone calls with the internet company to school forms, and instruction pamphlets to some more serious things like doctors notes, government forms, etc...  

This print is part of a series of 7 woodcut jigsaw prints each representing an intricate detail of a city landscape between San Francisco to Sacramento.