Family is a series of socially constructed bonds that allow us to grow as humans and eventually become productive members of society. This is their basic function. They range in shapes and sizes and differ from culture to culture. Oftentimes, families inflict various traumas on individual members. My body of work explores the relations of family ties and the traumas that occur within the family and our connection to the past. Who do we come from and does that make a difference in who we become?
My grandfathers both immigrated to the United States for different reasons. The idea of the “American Dream” is a continual topic I struggle to grasp. It is meant as a lure for those coming into the United States yet so often those immigrants seeking a better life and better future for their families are greeted with disgust. From the viewpoint of a cultural anthropologist, I often see migrant families as being extremely close and tight-knit. This is not the case for my family. There are echoes of the past that haunt the living today. Mothers hating their children. Fathers tormenting theirs.
Through the use of photographic mediums, I attempt to further understand who I am in this world and what it means to be human. I am often the subject of my work, often depicted as self-portraits, in an attempt at understanding why this torment exists in my family and how I can put an end to it. I attempt to create “pretty” and interactive art because I want this work to juxtapose the distance and pain felt within my own family unit. Various photographic mediums allow me to create a family I never had; they allow me to capture the underlying feelings that would not be shown in other mediums.