Modern Migrations

For the final assignment of my Integrative Studio: Migrate course, my peers and I were assigned to create a piece out of whatever medium we desired - muslin, letters, plaster, apricots, etc. - so long as it tied into the theme of migration.

There were two options I was yearning to do. I sat there for a good two hours before finally talking to my professor and deciding that the piece inspired by my mother's immigration story would ultimately draw out the best source of imagery I wanted for the project.

The idea was to construct a runway set and have a Barbie doll dressed in a 1/6 scale wedding dress similar to the one my mom wore on her wedding day. The runway would connect to the work that she currently is involved in today while also being a symbol of her journey from her home back in China to the point of where she is today in America.

I constructed a door frame that resembled the doorway of her home back in Hainan. To really reinforce the concept of the piece being a tribute to my mom's journey, I attached images ranging from her being a child to the days of her running her own bridal shop. This would give it that extra special personal touch and also visually illustrate my mom's progression (on top of having her embodied in the Barbie doll in the wedding gown). The final cherry on top of this "sundae" is adding in red banners with phrases of good luck on/near the doorway.

While the piece is strong enough to visually communicate the story behind it, there is still an accompanying text:

"My name is Huan. Huan E Song…but you may call me Wendy. According to the Western calendar, I was born on August 15^th, 1959 on the island of Hainan (fun fact: in the same year, the iconic Barbie doll was introduced to the world). Life on the farm wasn’t easy. There was my grandma, my father, my mother, my older sister, and I. We were considered well off on the island, but that didn’t really mean much when it was difficult getting by. Since we had such a dearth of food , my father went to Vietnam when I was three to find work and did his best to provide from afar. Meals back home consisted mostly of potatoes; anything else, especially fish, would be considered a rare treat.

I suppose the distance apart put a strain on the marital relationship. My parents divorced when I was eight years old; at the same time, I found out I had a new mother, three younger brothers, and a younger sister in Vietnam. With my father still in Vietnam, it was up to my grandma to raise my older sister and me. My grandma meant the world to me. While she insisted that sister stay home and work on the farm, she gave me the opportunity to attend high school. Like my sister, most kids stopped going to school after middle school and worked the farms. I cannot stress enough how fortunate I was to be able to graduate from high school.

In 1963, the Vietnam War started. It was no longer safe to stay in Vietnam and my father uprooted the family in Vietnam and relocated them to the United States. He was always looking for better opportunities for the family. They settled in a two-story house in the city of Los Angeles. In the year of 1984, my father registered for me to immigrate to the United States. I was 25 then. I knew no word of English. I didn’t even know a word of Chinese. The only form of communication I excelled at was my native dialect of Hainanese.

Just like my father, I decided to take advantage of my opportunities here in America. Back home, I had to work to help uphold the family. There was no time to pursue my interests. In the United States, I got a rudimentary job sewing in a factory to help out the family but I also got to enroll in adult school night classes. Imagine my excitement when I received my first ever paycheck of thirteen dollars! The excitement is pretty much comparable to the excitement high school seniors feel today when they find out they’ve been accepted by their dream college.

I found out that I really excelled at sewing.  I was learning quickly and, practically in the blink of an eye, I found myself working at Venus Bridal as a pattern maker. It wasn’t long before I enrolled at Trade Tech to further the knowledge and skills I had accumulated in fashion. By 1990, I had opened up my own bridal shop on Temple City’s buzzing “Bridal Boulevard,” had collected enough funds to buy my own house, and had developed enough skill to be receiving freelance alteration and pattern-making jobs from local bridal companies – I even worked for David’s Bridal at one point.

None of this could have ever happened to me had I stayed back in Hainan. America had opened doors for me. While there were days when I faced fatigue and stress, I always tell myself that life here was is a big improvement. My siblings are less than an hour drive away (driving, by the way, is one of the things I wish I didn’t have to deal with…it’s that part of Hainan that I miss) and the weather in California is very much reminiscent of home. I think it’s safe to say that my home is now in America."