I applied to and was contracted by Newton Community Pride in partnership with the City of Newton as part of the Newton Out Doors initiative. I painted a large-scale portrait of my late grandmother, who raised six children and spent most of her life in Brookline, MA. The gold leaf characters on the back translate to “Por Por,” or “maternal grandmother,” in Cantonese.

The door was defaced in July 2021, which prompted the committee to relocate it to City Hall for the remainder of the exhibit.

Art statement

My Por Por (maternal grandmother) was born in China, came to the United States as a lone teenager, and spent most of her life in Brookline. She had 6 children, 14 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren before she passed in December 2018. She was our anchor and we miss her terribly. Everyone in our extended circle of family and friends knew her as “Por Por.” She was loud, petite, frugal, green-thumbed, dextrous, independent, generous, fierce, funny, and resilient. I never did learn to speak Cantonese, but maybe “Por Por” was just enough.