Yvonne Fung
My Background, My Family
I began this project knowing that I wanted to make a collage about my family, but I didn’t how to start. My family means so much to me that it seems almost silly to have to show the magnitude of my emotions for them on paper. My original plan was to use a bunch of old photos and arrange them in such a way that they spelled “double happiness.†However, such a phrase is used only during weddings. I didn’t want to send the wrong message, so it was back to the drawing board for me.
I sat at my desk brainstorming until my father walked by and told me to clean my desk. Unhappily, I obeyed. In the midst of taking out all the junk in my drawers, I came upon several red envelopes. Eureka! I thought. I can use these!
I started by cutting up my red envelopes and pasting them onto my paper. Most of the red envelopes I have say “fortune.†Indeed, I have been incredibly fortunate all my life to have been with them. No matter what we go through, things always seem to turn out for the best.
Next, I taped on my mother’s hanging Buddha decoration. We actually have several, but I chose to use this one because looking at it always gives me a sense of calmness. Both sides of my family come from backgrounds with strong ties to Buddhism. Although I’m not very religious, I feel that the teachings of this religion are extremely valuable and have certainly helped me, as well as my family, understand the world a little bit better.
Afterwards, I taped on some Hong Kong currency. My father is originally from Hong Kong and is always talking about how much he loves it. We try to go there as often as we can, but with my parents’ work schedules and my sister’s and my clashing vacation schedules, it’s pretty hard.
I tried to find some money from where my mother is from, which is Taishan, China, but was unsuccessful in my search. When coming to the United States, she left everything behind. Very little of her life in China remains with us today. What I was able to find, however, was a coin, the type that Chinese people used during the end of the Ching dynasty. It is shaped like a circle, with a square hole in the center. The circular shape represents the universe, and the square shape represents China, which was believed to be the center of the earth.
I taped the hanging charm on the right side to represent all the good luck that has come to us and all the good luck that will be coming. These decorations are usually hung in Chinese homes during Chinese New Year to welcome joy and fortune into households. I believe that joy and fortune come year-round and so I have chosen to make it part of my collage.
Last but not least, are the pieces of jade. In Chinese culture, jade stands for good luck, good health, and protection. Indeed, these properties are properties that I wish for everyone in my family to have. These jade pieces are of my family’s Chinese signs. My father is a horse, my mother is a monkey, my sister is a sheep, and I am a rabbit. I placed all of the pieces together in the same spot to show our unity at home. I arranged them by age, so my father, the oldest, is at the top, and my sister, who is the youngest, is at the bottom.
There is actually a lot more I wish I could put on the paper to show what my family means to me. However, in order to do that, the paper would have to be never-endingly long. So here’s just a little taste of my love for them!
December 13th, 2006 at 12:06 am
I like how there are so many different types of money on your collage, even a coin from the Ching dynasty! It is also funny that the money is actually outside of the lucky red pockets instead of inside which is how they normally are. And the bright red color of the lucky pockets really jumps out at you. The Buddha and the jade animals do seem a little out of place in this sea of money. But I can see how they represent good luck and protection from bad spirits and bad luck in Chinese culture. I don’t know whether it was intended or not, but the jade surrounded by money, lucky red pockets, and the “gold” (is that real or plastic?) on the collage also mirrors your family surrounded by them in life.
December 13th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
The thing that I liked about this collage was how its vibrant red and gold popped out at me. It was also interesting to learn that China had different types of money for each bank.
December 17th, 2006 at 1:40 am
Definitely the most expensive collage in the class. The collage is very full, leaving many things to look at, each with its own meaning. Great collage, kudos comrade Yvonne, you’re the wo-Man