Fractured Barriers
Everyone is a little fractured. There are cracks in the walls that give us a peek of the other side, but we’re stuck in the same place. To break through the barriers, we must see the lure of every piece—listen to the noise. Fractured Barriers discusses the beauty of identity & language fragments and how they are often overwhelmed by linguistic barriers.
Life Between Languages
Language gaps can be beautiful; they lead to new challenges and unique communication styles. May and her Yéye rely heavily on hand gestures, Vietnamese, Cantonese, and English language fragments to get their messages across. But, with her Yéye’s deteriorating health struggles, it’s even harder to navigate those gaps.
LIFE BETWEEN LANGUAGES explores May’s frustration and vulnerability of not knowing “enough” of her native languages—she is forced to compete with growing linguistic barriers, making it harder to continue speaking with her Yéye.
Trilingually Tongue-Tied
Language is essentially noise that has meaning. But when you don’t understand the language, the noise can be overwhelming. Living as a second-generation Canadian in a mixed-race family means constantly hearing a mash-up of languages—from the guttural Arabic accent to the lighter waves of Vietnamese—until they give way to the familiarity of English.
TRILINGUALLY TONGUE-TIED is about the struggles and shame of having forgotten one’s native languages, overcoming obstacles of translation and miscommunication, and navigating the complexities of identity.