CURATORIAL RATIONALE
This body of works surrounds the theme of identity. By presenting this body of works, I am hoping that the audience will be able to approach this theme through multiple lenses: my own identity as well as identity in relation to my culture. The exploration of this concept leads to more insight into how culture has affected our characters.
In addition to the exploration of my own identity in my Chinese background, I also have set to explore aspects of my character through my recently discovered Cambodian culture. The artworks on the wall to the left stemmed from my personal experiences in discovering my Cambodian identity. A visit to Cambodia allowed me to come in touch with a part of my mom’s side of the family, of whom I did not know existed. As a result, my interest in the Cambodian side of my family grew, and I decided to paint Blue and Red Headwrap, a portrait of my great aunt, who I have met in Cambodia. I wanted to encapsulate in her portrait all the tragedies that my relatives had been through during the Khmer Rouge. Blue and Red Headwrap was the first of several paintings about Cambodia, including others in this exhibition. It signifies not only my connection to my Cambodian heritage but also my gradual realization of art as a powerful medium of expression. The backstories behind these paintings are tightly knit together, and the works that are displayed explore the idea of my identity along with the identities of those around me. My exhibition space consists of three walls that form a rectangular space that the audience can walk into. Through seeing the artworks, the audience will find that although the artworks are under different branches of the concept of identity, the stories behind them all connect, which is why I arranged the artworks in a way where the portrait of me is at the center of the works. There is a progression of ideas as the audience looks from left to right. On the wall to the left are pieces that show my Cambodian identity, mainly focused on exploring the stories and characters of my Cambodian family and the people I have encountered there. These pieces connect with Mother, an artwork of my relationship with my mom, as my Cambodian heritage is from my mom’s side of the family. It then transitions to artworks about my Chinese culture and its influences on me, as this is the culture that I grew up in. I chose to display my self-portrait, March, in the middle to show how all these artworks connect to me. Each wall includes a large-scale artwork to have a strong visual impact on the audience, which could not be achieved with smaller artworks. Furthermore, I wanted the paintings to exhibit an intimate feeling by placing the pieces close together. The audience will walk into the small exhibition space and be surrounded by portraits, which creates a sense of intimacy between the viewer and the people depicted in the artworks. This intimacy contributes to the overall theme as it establishes a sense of knowing the people portrayed in the painting in person, thus getting to know their identity. The way the artworks fit and piece together creates a sense of balance and support, as all the individuals in the works now have other people surrounding them. The collage of faces creates unity in the paintings as a whole. In this exhibition, I intend for the audience to join me on the journey of exploring the concept of identity. Through seeing the exploration of my identity in the ten works displayed, I want the audience to reflect on their own character and consider their own identity and the identities of the people around them, especially concerning their cultures. Identity and culture are complex structures, and I want them to understand and reflect more about themselves. Thus, I hope that this exhibition will create opportunities for my teenage audience to articulate and express their developing identities, and to appreciate the unique cultures and backgrounds that they all come from. |