Artist Statement
Title: Woven Histories, Woven Futures, 1965
Year: 1965
The Hart-Celler Act marked a radical break in policy upholding the homogeneity of the United States. It ushered in an influx of immigration over the next few decades from Africa and from Asia. Two of those immigrants included my parents, who journeyed from two different Southeast Asian countries, met in Georgia and had me. While opening up opportunity and hope for some immigrants, the act also made life painful for many Latinx communities who saw more immigration restrictions. This work is both full of hope and full of tension. It depicts three figures of Asian, Black and Latinx descent, defiantly filling the frame, linked through the threads of a tapestry, the fabric of our society. There is growth all around them, but something sinister lurks just out of frame—the racism, xenophobia and white supremacy that shaped the assumptions of the Hart-Celler Act, and continue to shape our society today, sparking our fight for a more just world.
Phingbodhipakkiya invited Laura Anderson Barbata to TIMEPieces. Their work is inspired by the year 1965.
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