Roots
Dimensions (HxWxD): 162x168x110 in.
Media: 30 pieces 3D printed figurines, mixed media
Year: 2021
“Where are you from?”
This is perhaps one of the most fundamental questions in our society and as an Asian American I have had this question many times.
My current series “Where are you from?” is based on my research on my own DNA tests and showing my firm belief that humanity has evolved based on migration.
I made “Roots” installation based on “Family Tree” pencil drawing.
Through my immersive installations, I complicate the cultural aesthetics of hybridity and heterogeneity, regional and global identity in post-colonial times, playing on a multitude of tensions while embracing hybridity as form, moving fluidly between feminine and masculine, nature and culture, internal and external, ephemeral and enduring, through macroscopic and microscopic worlds. This installation contains 30 of 3D printed figures which are made by computer modeling and digital fabrication.
My labor-intensive practice has also long been informed by equally intensive research-based processes.
When I created this installation, I was more concentrated on the underground part of the family tree rather than branches. Root system is deeply related to surviving and countless thin and fine roots transform to tangled but strong and solid structures. I thought it is a great metaphor for representing our humanity and history.