The Line Along the Knot is an exhibition that asks questions about the complexities of migration and finding the through line in these experiences. What is left behind? What are the things carried across bodies of water or stretches of land? What experiences do we hold on to? In this body of work, I am examining the stories of my father and mother and their path from Vietnam and China, focusing on the perspectives of refugees and immigrants of the United States.

The entire exhibition feathers paper mulberry, a plant surviving centuries of migration from East and Southeast Asia to areas in North America. Through its transformations into thread and paper, the material becomes a metaphor for adaption and resiliency. I use paper mulberry as a material to make connections to the past using it in traditional craft processes for Vietnamese papermaking, and Chinese knotting techniques. This has been a way for me to connect to the past through the inherent knowledge that has been passed down through my hands.

The first part of the exhibition shows handmade paper referencing a vast oceanic landscape. The papers look like portraits of an archaeological artifact containing a knotted language embedded into the paper. I am interested in the experiences that we hold on to across bodies of water in the migration journey. Paper is a medium that carries our stories forward.

As the viewer walks through the maze-like structure of nets made from paper mulberry they will find a video process of its construction and personal key in the The installation is set up as a way for one to explore the space, contemplating the path they take. The symbols found along the knots are moments to engage in the questions about migration, rituals of labor, identity, history and our memories through them.

GUZHENG PERFORMANCE

I invite my mother, Julie Yang Kwok, to interpret the installation site through music where she played the guzheng (Chinese traditional zither). Yang explored the connections of personal heritage and voyage and played improvisational guzheng while interpreting the knots within the exhibition space.

Photos and video by Aaron Granat, Jim Escalante, and Veronica Pham