the 3 little piggies blew the house down

The Sleep of Reason; The Fragmented Figure Sculpture Month Houston 2023
Curated by Volker Eisele

“Discussions about identity have a paradoxical flavor when, in the name of identity, imposed ethnic identities are rejected, as a remnant of the Western domination of the World.” (Coulmas, 2019)

As an embodiment of identity, the representation of the figure in its deconstructed and manipulated form serves as a tool for narrative and experience. In an ethnically diverse yet politically segregated society where immigrants compose over a 1/10th of the U.S. population, the struggle towards personally establishing a distinct form or representation of self is shared among many that find themselves isolated or persecuted for differences in values. Within household walls, generational differences of stability with oneself have the potential to ignite conflicts between first-generation immigrant children and their parents, fueling an idea that the outside holds more love. Ironically though, the love from outside is conditional to our assimilation- if not that, finding a target on our back. 

Depicting a domestic setting, this installation shifts personal identities from a uniquely American individualist approach and highlights the communal and familial values shared within immigrant communities. Identifying the key role women play within the functionality and dynamic of households, the work materially focuses on three generations- reflecting on the burgeoning sense of conflicted identities developing with each subsequent generation- all present at the table unaware of the dangers that approach from outside.