Artwork

Artist Statement In each of my paintings there is a central character whose story I’m revealing through aspects of the composition. Technically, I paint with acrylics on canvas. I purposefully wrinkle my canvases in response to the texture of siapo. For these two and other paintings of this series, I referred to my mother’s siblings and some of the elders who migrated from American Samoa to Honolulu and then to San Diego, California, from the 1950s to the early 1960s. I use their experiences as a metaphor for all Pacific families in the United States at that time because they have experienced similar things. I was interested in how newly relocated families over time assimilate, or resist assimilation. I wondered how the evolution took place and what was at stake.