This piece is about refugees, in particular from Vietnam. City Heights has long welcomed refugees to its neighborhood. The Vietnamese started coming in 1975. Please see this link to an interview that really shaped this art piece.
There are many Buddhists in Vietnam and I have included Joss Papers to represent them. The 3 hundred dollar bills catch the eye. These are burned in effigy after a person has died, a veneration to one’s ancestors. It's a good replica, but look closely to see that not all the words are in English. I portrayed everyday items like the hat, broom. Betel leaves signify love, a symbol that could be explained to another person at the right moment.
Nguroi My göç is the name for American born Vietnamese.
This carrot and daikon recipe is fantastic and very similar to the one I make.

                           Cambodia
I was taken by the PBS story on the life of Ted Ngoy. "The Donut King".
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/the-donut-king/
I found that there was a traditional donut as the base of our American donuts and I was intrigued by the progression of donut design from the younger generations adding to the traditional version.

​                        East African countries
A main staple for many Africans is the tiny grain called Teff. Injera ferments it and makes a large pancake that is a platter, utensils and a filling meal. I have only used Teff in soups.


When someone moves to another country, do they adopt all things of the new country? Some of those things especially in public, or none of them and stay within their community of refugees.
​For the collage, I put in a waffle recipe and the table of contents from an older American cookbook to juxtaposed how women cook in Africa. The contrast is remarkable (hence the inclusion)


I read about the women and how they had to start financially supporting their families because of so many male losses due to war. They formed a collective to make beads from recycled paper, often from magazines. The beads are strung together to make necklaces and exported. I just had to make my own and they are the dimensional texture in the top of this collage.