Upon finding my mom’s teenage diaries and comparing them to my own, I took a solo trip to Rio de Janeiro to learn more about her younger self. Growing up in an immigrant household was a tension pendulum, a loving relationship permeated by misunderstanding. Rio always feels like home, an impossible kind of nostalgia, because I was raised in New Jersey. How I feel there, like I almost fit, is perhaps the way my parents feel here. This work is an amalgamation of these emotions, how I’ve interpreted my mom’s memories, and how they influence my experiences. My mom has taught me how to brave the world with a sense of wonder and joy.

Our universal language is joy.