“so, here you are too foreign for home, too foreign for here. never enough for both.” - Ijeoma Umebinyuo. Migrating to Singapore at the age of seven, my artistic practice is centred around the idea of the Thai diaspora. As a migrant who constantly struggles between different cultures, my works explore the Thai migrants’ cultural assimilation into the new environment of Singapore, commenting and questioning the duality of their identity. To facilitate this, I created a space where the audience may have a contemplative mindset as they begin to question the identity of a migrant. 

                    Primarily, my body of work follows the journey of a migrant in Singapore, branching into the idea of presence and absence in their Thai identity. I first embarked on the starting journey of the migrant in “imprint”, which is concurrent with “wai”, capturing the Thai greeting as a form of farewell to their past, and a greeting into a new beginning in Singapore. “migration” further explores my overarching theme, placing emphasis on the idea of migration. My first 3 works comprise of prints, playing onto the documentative nature and scale of the migration process. In developing my works, I went to Golden Mile Complex, an enclave for Thai migrants, inspiring me to create  “In Unity is Strength” and “เพื่อนไทย” (Thai Friend), capturing the camaraderie spirit within the Thai community. The lightbox display mimics a sign in Golden Mile, allowing the audience to envision being immersed in the space. Throughout my process, I began to question the integrity of a migrant’s identity, leading to my second sub-theme of absence in their Thai identity. Thus “we the citizens of …” questions the duality between nationalities through the use of flickering lights to mimic the flags. My following work, “where are my manners?” further elaborates on the absence of culture, commenting on my personal detachment from Thai behaviourisms. I chose to paint on a translucent fabric to emulate a ghostly effect, suggesting a sense of distance. “forgotten” also dwells on my personal detachment to Thai relics as I wanted my sculpture to suggest a neglected object. My last work, “neither here, nor there” is an accumulation of my whole body of work, allowing the audience to better comprehend the journey of a migrant.

                    In exhibiting my works, I curated a space following a narrative of a Thai migrant in Singapore, allowing the audience to understand and sympathise with them. The audience is invited to view the exhibition in an anti-clockwise manner, starting from the beginning of entering Singapore, to a Thai enclave and the detachment of their Thai identity. Hence, having a more positive outlook in the beginning, slowly shifting into a more melancholic and solemn tone by the end. As the audience enters the space, they are greeted with “imprint” and “wai”, allowing the audience to understand the significance of the Thai greeting and the Thai diaspora. This is further elaborated in “migration”, placing emphasis on the movement of people into a new environment, setting up the tone for the following works. Following the same direction, they are greeted with “In Unity there is Strength” and “เพื่อนไทย” (Thai Friend). These installations create an immersive experience for them as they begin to comprehend the Thai community residing in Singapore. Continuing on, they would notice “we the citizens of …” which creates an intimate setting for the audience as it presents the duality and shifts my works into a sombre tone. Towards the end of the space, they will see “forgotten” and “where are my manners?”. The former is placed in front of the latter, creating an illusion of the silhouette in the painting praying to the ceramic relics, symbolising the detachment of Thai culture. Both works deal with the Thai diaspora, which the audience were introduced early on, but now it is portraying it in a desolate manner as it touches on the subject of absence of a migrant’s Thai identity. Throughout my works there are several elements such as the national flower, the flag, relics etc. which can all be seen in my last work, “neither here, nor there”, thus tying the narrative in all my works, reaching a conclusion that a migrant’s identity is constantly residing in the in between.

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