Date
Spring 2024
Exhibit Images
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Thesis Committee Chair
Astri Snodgrass, MFA
Thesis Committee Members
Jon Sadler, MFA; Kate Walker, MFA; and Craig Peariso, PhD
Artist's Statement
With my work I explore the formation of identity through displacement and reckoning with the past. As a descendant of hibakusha, survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, I have inherited sets of complex lived experiences tied to migration, loss, and trauma. Through the use of traditional Japanese materials, I show an attempt at bridging my exterior and interior identities. My use of these materials becomes an act of translation of my lived and inherited experience as I reverse their traditional expectations. My work is not a reflection of Japanese or Japanese American culture, but rather speaks of the journey I take in understanding identity. With my video and text works, I take fragments, just as they are often revealed in conversation, and intertwine them with memories. I tell my narratives through the lens of a descendant, processing stories and reading between the lines. I take a personal and confessional approach, trying to make sense of seemingly inconceivable family histories. I want participants to feel like they know my family, lessening the barrier between them and a not-so-distant past. With the passage of time, age, and gaps in understanding between generations, the understanding of what is real becomes blurred.
Recommended Citation
Maxwell, Hallie, "Alternate Heirlooms" (2024). 2024 MFA Visual Arts. 2.
https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/mfa_artists_2024/2
Alternate Heirlooms - Thesis Paper