Her Palace and Her Majesty

Her Palace and Her Majesty, 2024, Acrylic, charcoal, and colored pastel on unstretched canvas, 72” x 97”

This large-scale painting is the first and leading piece of the work series The New Immigrant Moms whose creation process is still ongoing.
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“The New Immigrants (xīn yí mín)” is a self-defined identity created within the mainland Chinese immigrants who came to the U.S. from the 10s to the 20s. From my living experience, while this term is not meant to distinguish ourselves from other Chinese American communities, it serves as an expression of anxiety, uncertainty, and unease with the new environment and cultural shocks.
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Among the new immigrants, the moms usually became the pillar of the family in the new environment, while the dads tend to maintain their jobs in China as the back-up. This painting is created based upon multiple reference photos of my mother and her plants in our garden– the base of the Queen’s “Palace”. Rather than celebrating her sacrifice to the family and children, I wish to release her from the halo of a selfless soul.

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“Striking, badass, undeniably cool, as a queen surveying her domain.”

This is what I did to make a representation of you.