My artwork is inspired by a book that I read my sophomore year for my Honors English class named Patron Saints of Nothing. There were many themes in this book that explored truth, adolescence, and justice, but the one I was drawn to the most was about culture and belonging. The theme of culture and belonging was very relatable to me from reading this book because the main character is Filipino-American, and he had struggles of feeling disconnected from his culture of being Filipino because of how he was raised in America. That feeling resonated with me because I am also Filipino-American and there are times where I feel like I wish I was more connected to my Filipino roots because I didn’t grow up learning the Filipino language and did not have a lot of Filipino friends when I was younger. The glass shards surrounding the boy in the photo represents fragmentation, and how the main character, Jay, feels torn between his identities of being Filipino and American and trying to piece together his sense of self. I drew the Filipino flag showing in the shards to represent how although he feels distanced from it, he is still connected to his Filipino roots, while the background of the American flag represents his connection to being American, but also his sense of displacement in American society.
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