Limei Lai Painting Thesis Portfolio Fall 2022

My daughter loved to sing out her thoughts just like me. But unlike me, she sang about her freedom before learning how to put on her own clothes. My mother lived her life for her husband, tried to be a helpful wife, sad and angry but never could leave. I left, divorced, when I saw myself sad and angry. My grandma loved fabric and thread, did embroidery till 80 years old, but never left the village. I felt the same about embroidery, but not about the village. 

The theme of women intergenerational storytelling naturally emerged as my work is autobiographical. The unseen struggles caused by fear of change and aging under my seemingly positive everyday life continued to lead to more failure in maintaining human connections. All the new and aged scars hidden within told stories of the most loved and avoided, reflected the intergenerational communication and miscommunication, as well as the identity transformation and regeneration under the shift and change of cultural, historical, and political environments. 


Combining mix-media materials, in-depth research, performance, interview, and workshop, I explore the relationships of independent qualities in materials, accumulated energy in space, cultural and personal memories in objects, confusions and fear in me, and stories from interviewees and audiences. Personal stories are transformed into objects in space. Social engagement gives art the power to connect and to heal. All I want is to offer a moment of sharing and exchange, for my interviewees, for audiences, and for me. 

22 albums

Fall 2022