First Generation, a portraiture and storytelling project that explores the lives of queer first-generation (adult) children of immigrants. The work examines the tension between family expectations — shaped by sacrifice, assimilation, and cultural continuity — and the insistence on living authentically.

First Generation will extend my portraiture and community-based practice by creating visual and narrative archives that bring these layered stories into the light. I will photograph and interview queer first-generation Portlanders, documenting how they negotiate belonging, identity, and visibility across multiple cultural contexts. 

Some of the artistic questions I’m exploring are - In what ways do the complexities of migration, family sacrifice, and cultural expectation influence how queer first-generation adult-children understand themselves and their queerness? How do queerness and cultural inheritance intersect to form — or fracture — a sense of identity and belonging? What new forms of cultural expression and kinship emerge when these stories are shared?

The series is designed to surface these tensions and dualities directly. Each participant is photographed twice: first, in the attire they would wear to a family function — drawing out the emotions tied to duty, heritage, and cultural expectation. Then again, in what they might wear to a Pride party — evoking the feelings of liberation, joy, and visibility that queerness brings. These paired portraits, alongside personal narratives, create a layered archive that honors the complexity of holding both worlds at once.