Julia Yoo, 17
Korean and Indian
The perpetual foreigner series are about the lack of connection many children of immigrants feel. The perpetual foreigner syndrome is something many immigrants, specifically POC, experience in North America, where they are viewed as foreigners no matter how long their families have been established in the country. These assumptions are based on racism and xenophobia, and the belief that Americans and Canadians are inherently white. Perpetual Foreigner uses old photos from my parents- mostly my mother’s- photos from her trip to India in the 90s. When my mother is included in the photos, I overlay photos of myself in a similar position to her. As more and more photos are overlaid, the more unrecognizable the person becomes. Eventually the woman disappears into a jumble of layers- and all that’s left is what’s behind her, India. A place that we both barely know, yet have our identities reduced to.