Flo Oy Wong, “My Mother’s Baggage: Paper Sister / Paper Aunt / Paper Wife,” 1998

mixed media - suitcase, scanned photo images, magazine text

Detail of Page 5 of “My Mother’s Baggage: Paper Sister / Paper Aunt / Paper Wife,” which consists of 6 suitcases, ranging in size. 

Collaged Text: “To legitimize her first American-born offspring my mother then married (in name only) a man named Sheng Wong in 1934 thus, her American-born children, including myself, were given his surname, Wong We then became cousins to our China-born siblings and nieces and nephew to our true father We feared possible deportation”