SUGAR WATER
Solo Exhibition
PROJECT ROW HOUSES: ROUND 51: LOCAL IMPACT II
March - September, 2020
Houston, Texas.
This installation explores themes of identity and the experience of inhabiting brown skin. “Sugar Water” plays with the idea of adding sweetness through color, which is used strategically and sparingly. Silver and kitsch materials are used in abundance to reference the Mylar solar blankets used in detention centers. Drawn portraits are inspired by pictures of my parents in 1970’s Manhattan, soon after they immigrated to the US. These pictures embody the possibilities as immigrants to the US, and adopting the life and fashion of the times and of their new home. Ideas of assimilation and of coming from two worlds are referenced through the use of pop culture iconography. In Tops Drop, the title references the song “Tops Drop” by Fat Pat, and is an Ode to growing up in the richly diverse Houston, and the musically specific soundtrack of the Houston rap scene. The KISS mask is a visual icon used as metaphor for my experience as a first generation daughter of immigrants.
Flowers are used as graphic patterns, familial narratives and matriarchal symbols. Silver and kitsch materials are used in abundance to reference the Mylar solar blankets used in detention centers.