Image Description: My research depicts the need to acknowledge the diversity and multidimensionality of intersectional identities, within spaces of the nation-state. I use the aesthetics of oceans to effectively theorize the ongoing and multiplex formations of my diasporic identities as an Afghan Canadian and Asian Canadian, demonstrating the complexities of cultural identity formation. This is evident through three main aspects of my artwork: the unstable multicultural hyphen, the liminal spaces of entangled migration routes that are beyond the Canadian nation-state borders, and the active oceanic waves in the paintings.
Why did you conduct this research? I created this work to highlight the need to think beyond the limits of hyphenated identities and nation borders when understanding the nuances of identities and belonging. How does conceptualizing diasporas as oceans allow us to reimagine mobile spaces of identity formation? I challenge how racialized communities are expected to identify within the Canadian nation-state. I also open news spaces of inquiry about the complexity of migration journeys and the diversity of migration experiences, which shape individuals’ evolving identities within a particular time and space.
Technique: I used mixed media to highlight the multidimensionality of migration journeys and identity formation. The acrylic paint on canvas captures the fluidity of the oceanic waves. I scattered gravel pieces around to emphasize the natural movement of people, stories, and identities, beyond nation-state borders. I used tight string and two wooden beads to allude to the rigid borders of the nation-state and hyphenated identities. I used metallic elastics and brown wooden beads in between to emphasize the flexible, yet complex, migration journeys of racialized communities. The artwork is photographed on a background of blue fabric, showing the ocean’s vast openness.
Acknowledgements: I am grateful for being inspired while I was enrolled in the OISE graduate course called “Theorizing Asian Canada.”