What is my background?

What is my background?

I’m a second generation, Chinese Canadian. My Cantonese is a little choppy but I am fluent in English, Chinglish and painting. I’m a rat in the Chinese zodiac and my mom is a snake. We have a very charged relationship because snakes eat rats for dinner! My first words were in Cantonese but I started to lose it when I was enrolled in English school. There’s always been a communication barrier between my mother and I, a cultural clash, a language wall, a deep frustration of a mix of bad hearing over angry yelling, I’m not sure what it was. She did teach me how to read and write and draw my first hand turkeys. In my teenage years I started communicating with her through hand written notes, little doodles and things, it was just an easier way, a calmer way to get our ideas across. When I moved out, I’d send her snail mail. I guess I’ve grown accustomed to communicating through symbols, patterns and colours.

Sort of went on a tangent there. I never know how to answer that question because I don’t just make art about the Chinese Canadian experience explicitly, but I hope that helps to explain how my background informs my work.