Snacks: A Connection to First Gen Identity

When thinking about the prompt’s connection to my roots I wanted to connect to memories of my past with snacks from my childhood and enjoying the little moments in life. I vividly remember a time when my paternal grandma would give me these jelly cube candies wrapped in rice paper, and I would sit in the sun lit living room of my house with the big window as happily I ate my sweet. These warm memories are intrinsically tied to me and my identity and I wanted to show that in my art. In my piece I’ve included the jelly candies from my grandma, as well as 2 types of rice crackers, and white rabbit candy, all snacks I’ve enjoyed fondly and still do today.

As I was coming up with my style for my art, I referenced Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo. His films captured the feeling of what it was like being a kid, the feelings of happiness at any little thing, a child’s optimism, and a kid's powerful imagination. Ponyo especially captures those feelings which is something I wanted to capture and show in my art as well. Some of the ways that I did that was using soft colors and adapting the way Miyazaki draws his characters with round shapes and puffy clothes.

As I further the theme of childhood in my art, I decided to include my friend, Yaxian (who emigrated to the U.S from China from a young age and had a hard time adjusting). Through our friendship I found out that although we had really different backgrounds and stories, we shared similar childhoods and personal tastes. The girl's outfit is based on actual childhood photos of me and Yaxian in the same living room where I had fond memories of jelly cube candy and my paternal grandma. It depicts a fictional “what if” scene of me (the girl in yellow) meeting Yaxian (the girl in red) for the first time and connecting through our similar tastes in snacks.