Water Roadway
My mother poetically referred to the course of life as the “water roadway,” where the past, present, and future intrinsically flows.
As a second-generation Chinese American, I reflect upon my parent’s journey. My father, like his, sought a better life in merchant sailing, serving as cook/steward. After docking in New York City, the world changed with the attacks on Pearl Harbor and Hong Kong. He, along with 20,000 other Chinese, would enlist in the US military. He served in the Army as a cook, the only Chinese person in the battalion. My mother escaped Hong Kong into China, survived as a laborer carrying food products over miles with my toddler brother in tow. My father would send his pay home to help though the transfer went poorly. For a time, my parents had no communication. They reunited after 13 years when emigration laws opened. In 2021, the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded for his WWII service. I proudly represented him at the 2025 Veterans Day Parade in Manhattan, New York.
My parent’s binding love, determination and resolve weathered the war’s painful family separation, the loneliness of segregation, perseverance to live in a world that is vastly different from where they grew up from and to maintain one’s ethnic identity. In their honor, these images were made to visually express the historical context and emotional depth my family experienced. I know we are not alone to have such human stories, hence we each have a ‘water roadway’ to share.
Note: Asterisk indicates photographic print in exhibit at Downtown Art Center