Year: 2025

Medium: Branches, Leaves, Twine

Size: 18” x 40” x 18”

Others: My family has a history of being ripped from their roots: my great-grandmother was torn from her northern hometown in the Korean War; my grandfather crossed rivers and mountains from communist China to Hong Kong; my father left home a teenager to chase a better future in America. Despite that, they never forget where they came from. My mother still cooks North Korean recipes passed down from her grandmother; my grandfather plays Mahjong with a set of tiles he had inherited from his father as a boy; my father came back to Hong Kong and laid down his roots to start a family. It is from the gentle hand of sacrifice that the withered branches of our ancestors bear new leaves, new hopes and new generations. Past time, past land and water, past sons and daughters, my family holds onto one truth: a falling leaf returns to its roots.