I was born in the Northern Mariana Islands, grew up in Guangzhou 广州, China, and am now based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — my definition of home has always been characterized by mobility. It was through this detachment from a physical sense of belonging that I became more engaged with the idea of storytelling. Each time I moved, I quickly learned how to make a new environment feel like home. The key to this was understanding the history and culture of the place where I had landed.

How do cultural artifacts shape a community’s cultural identity? How does physical and emotional spaces define history? How does collective memory shape a sense of place and belonging? The complexities and agencies behind the acts of remembering and forgetting have been central to my investigations of history and memory as well as my explorations of identity and self. I am particularly drawn to artifacts because they are representations of people’s relationships with each other and my relationships with my immediate environments. They also forge a sense of attachment to the places to which communities, individuals, and I belong. Simply put, cultural artifacts are living history.

As a community conservator, public art historian, and artist, I am interested in the interdependence between tangible and intangible cultural heritage. My research, work experiences in the cultural heritage field, and creative processes are grounded in my explorations of the ways in which the material and immaterial components of artifacts establish and reinforce community and individual belonging. I became most interested in stewarding and caring for artifacts that represent transnational narratives through working at the Syracuse University Art Museum, the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, and Historic Deerfield Inc. After earning my B.A. in Art History, Studio Art, and History at Syracuse University, I worked at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. as the Andrew W. Mellon Artists’ Materials Research Assistant where I explored the intersections between conservation science, materials manufacturing, and art history by cataloging and researching artists’ materials housed in the Art Materials Research and Study Center prior to attending WUDPAC. My developed interests through these early career experiences in how and why artifacts were made and how artifacts represent their affiliated communities continue to inspire my research, drive my conservation methods, and inform my approaches to community care.

Outside of my conservation and research rabbit holes, I can be found playing the guitar, trying out a new snack, reading, building Legos, watching basketball and street dance battles, and dancing to BTS.