Nakry Nakry

Artist Statement

What does it mean not to know exactly where you come from? The unknown is a familiar concept for many adoptees, but its role in each life is unique to the individual. It changes whether it is a small, large, or lingering aspect of daily life.

Nakry Nakry is a series of six photo collages in which I confront a myriad of unknowns about my adoption from Cambodia. By amalgamating past and recent photographs, I retrace the locations my mother went on her trip to adopt me. My taping, scanning, and reprinting process seeks to distance subjects from original images, reflecting my distance from my birthplace. Cutting photographs and piecing them back together with tape symbolizes an ever-changing narrative that negates time and space constraints. I may never know the specific details about where I came from-my exact birth time, the location where I was born, or who my birth parents are. As I grow with the unknown, such details have become less important.

 © 2023