Heavy Is The Crown
Sarah R.
Colored pencil, gold marker, oil pastel, tape, cardstock (white, black, and red), and patterned paper on black matboard)
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“Heavy Is The Crown” is a visceral reminder of the lingering ancestral hardships that continue to permeate the lives of our modern generation. It commands viewers to remember who came before. Growing up “Chindian” (Chinese-Indian), I have only heard fragments of the poverty, famine, and violence that have shaped my family’s history. As I continue to pursue “Americanized” versions of my family’s traditions, I wonder if my descendants might judge my inauthenticity. There is an internalized guilt that remains in my mind for being the one who survived, carrying the legacy of countless unaddressed sacrifices. It is an emotional debt that I can never fully repay. Today, I stand unsure whether the crown I carry was meant for me, or whether it was simply placed upon my head because there was nobody else left to wear it. Survival comes with a price. To the victor go the spoils, I suppose.
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Creativity is about experimenting with every resource life has to offer. I find meaning in the disordered, finding any opportunity to mix all the unconventional mediums I can get my hands on. Creating haphazardly in the dead of night is an outlet for my rawest emotions.
