Julie Anne Lee

a mother's survey to live comfortably (2021)

Series of eighteen images depicting a woman's special "coming-of-age" story.

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These images were created after the ATL shooting. I thought about Steven Yeun’s quote on the AAPI experience (thinking about everyone else, but nobody else is thinking about you) when my mother and I created these images. These images depict a woman covering framed photographs of loved ones experiencing moments of joy and celebration. The clear intentional gestures obscure the family’s faces to protect their identities, while also providing an entryway through these shared experiences (recitals, graduation, birthdays, so on). The dark space acts as a mourning and processing space, isolated where she can process these memories as well as her grief. A space of being, embodying, living. It brings full attention to the woman (a working class Asian immigrant who can finally sit down and look back) and her reflections. She cannot escape the reality of who she is if she wanted to (not that she wanted to anyways). She cannot escape the hateful looks about her appearance. In the gaps, the obscured faces, that could have been anyone and that is where the grief truly sets in. The collectiveness is what brings so much happiness but also much grief and mourning. That collectiveness brings her to look at herself. These moments have been cared for through the frame while also collecting dust, so her hands and loving touch bring life and care. In that touch, there lies a pensiveness into those memories that show her heritage, her ancestry, and ultimately herself as the last image tells her ‘lovely family <3.'