2008
painting, installation

This installation changed over 6 months: it started minimally, with 4 small paintings hung on two pale green corner-walls, and then evolved into a fully-realized mural. This project was informed by previous and ongoing studio meditations on overseas labor and immigration narratives.

The geometric forms are stylized durians (Southeast Asian fruits known for their spiky exterior, fleshy interior and pungent aroma). The durian functions as a sort of vas hermeticum: a sealed form suggesting an overseas contract worker’s tropical roots, his/her conspicuity in an institutionalized, homogenized environment, a vessel for containment and transference, and a sort of ominous self-protection.

doubledurian stage 1

doubledurian stage 1

doubledurian stage 2

doubledurian stage 2

doubledurian stage 2