cut fruit (coming soon)
autobiographical documentary series
A plate of cut fruit is our parents’ way to express love beyond words; to express love in actions instead. I also find the narrative of Asian family structures depicted in popular media to be somewhat limiting - there’s much more beyond the tiger mom or strict dad tropes. I believe there are many lines between that should be explored, especially in our immigrant stories. In my broken mandarin I investigate a few aspects of my family story, an oral and visual documentation of my story beyond words.
Entry 1: Mom’s Beef Noodle Soup
Mom teaches me how to make her signature beef noodle soup, which is always my first meal when I go home to visit. Mom shares how she comes up with her recipes by blending techniques from Taiwanese, Chinese, and Korean youtube videos.
Entry 2: Ah Ma’s Mountain Story
Searching for my Ah Ma’s childhood home in the mountains north of Taipei, following her telling of stories growing up there. We also tomb sweep to pay our respects to ancestors.
Entry 3: Baba’s Tree
To find peace within himself, Baba returns to his childhood temple in Taichung for the first time since his mother (my Nai Nai) passed away a few years ago. Like me, he is sentimental with objects so he carries with him a ziploc bag of pictures and origami stored with memories.
