Immigrant Experience by JK Garrity

Life in America created a lot of anxiety for many immigrants who were unsure about how to adapt to their new environment. This was true for everyone, but each age group faced its own expectations and challenges on how to be an American. For 15 year-old Mali, born in the U.S. to parents from Southeast Asia, cultural conflicts were an almost everyday event. In the morning the family was used to eating spicy noodles for breakfast, but her friends in school who ate cereal laughed at her. When she told her parents that she wanted to eat cereal in the morning, they scolded her for being ashamed of their Asian heritage.

Although her parents dressed conservatively, Mali wanted to keep up with her American classmates and wear make-up and branded clothes. The one thing that both Mali and her parents agreed upon was that she should study hard and get accepted at a top university, which she did. Her proud parents and relatives attended her graduation from Georgetown University, and now Mali is a successful banker and she regularly serves her children noodles for breakfast.

How Mali lost her accent, 1991 (94 x 68 in)

Acrylic, oil on stitched and padded canvas