Dear, by Jennifer Qu

Within the two worlds I live amongst, I have grown tired and restless trying to navigate my relationship between my Chinese heritage and the country that I have been raised to flourish in, Canada. This project is a collection of images coupled with envelopes addressed to my family members all around China. A well overdue homage to my cultural heritage that I have spent years learning to embrace proudly. Mapping out the remnants of my own culture through objects and traditions here in Canada that my family has carried ten thousand kilometers around the world. The rips, tears, and crumbled creases in the scanned photographs represent the years that I have spent trying to erase my own culture - the self damage and insecurities I have tried to suppress by defacing my own culture, folding over my history tucked away in my pockets. Although these images may be scratched and bruised, it does not take away from the essence that is being photographed. Comparably, no matter how much I tried to avoid my Chinese heritage, I could not because it is the essence of who I am. The stamps on the envelopes have been in my mother's collection for nearly 40 years. Since the 1840’s, stamps were to be paid by the sender instead of the addressee. This notion of the sender claiming responsibility of relaying an important message is portrayed with this body of work. I am claiming responsibility, and have devoted this project to capture the beautiful objects and traditions I have grown up with. I hope that message is clear.