Everyday
“Imagine being asked who your real parents are. Imagine being a parent overhearing your child being asked who their real parents are.”
Everyday is an interactive piece where the viewer can choose to use the lens to magnify and read the microscopic text. However, through magnification, the text is also being distorted. The frustration and ambiguity in this exercise connects to the racial micro-aggressions that are written about and faced by the artist and her family.
Imagine being asked who your real parents are. Imagine being a parent overhearing your child being asked who their real parents are. Imagine being a five years old, standing next to your mother, hand in hers, and being asked where your mother is. Imagine holding your daughter’s hand and being asked where her mother is. Imagine walking into a restaurant with your parents and being led to different tables. Imagine walking in, standing with your children, having to respond, “no, we’re all together”. Imagine walking around with your father, wondering if passersby think you’re an Asian gold digger. Imagine walking alongside your daughter, aware that passersby may think you’re dating your own daughter. Imagine your grandparents taking you to the park and wondering why strangers think you’re being kidnapped. Imagine being a grandparent taking care of your grandchild and being accused of kidnapping.
Everyday.
Everyday
Glass, printed text
24”x24”
2019
Photographs by Haigen Pearson.