Migration Series (2021-2)
The imagery in these works was taken from a larger archive of images, collected by the artist during the time she had spent living across the globe from her family. The digitally communicated photographs undergo a process of printing, deconstruction, and then re-construction. The images are silkscreened directly onto threads which have been stretched out onto cardboard. These threads are then removed from the cardboard and then used to create the weft of the weaving, resulting in a solid piece of fabric. The procedure reflects the slow process of reconstructing narratives tied to her family’s experiences in the Khmer Rouge.
Following the form of post-memory and the process of recollecting the trauma of a different generation, the work challenges what trauma looks like. The work also investigates the ways that memories are constructed and reimagined, and through that iterative process, are destroyed and recontextualized with each step.
The ghostly imagery depicted delivers an effect that speaks to encounters across time and space. Healing processes of both psychosomatic as well as physical notions present themselves in repetitive actions and rhythms forming the basis from which reparation and gestures of repair can forge a path towards healing. In an attempt to repair and heal, the most clearly depicted print undergoes submergence into salt, through which the presence of salt crystals becomes apparent.
Shown at:
NARS Foundation
New York Live Arts
Textile Arts Center
Atlantic Gallery