Immigrant Box
Angela Jung
Immigrant Box explores the immigrant experience in the United States, both visually and emotionally. Rooted in a decade of personal immigration journey, using official documents I have navigated, the project critiques the U.S. naturalization process and its emotional toll on individuals. Immigrant Box seeks to bridge the gap between immigrants and native-born Americans by fostering an emotional connection and providing an opportunity to engage with the immigration process. Its visual and narrative elements convey the stress, uncertainty, and hardship that define this journey.
Grounded in government documentation, Immigrant Box draws from the extensive paperwork that immigrants must complete over the years. The project highlights the blank sections where applicants must provide answers, underscoring the weight of these questions and the uncertainty they impose. Alongside these highlighted blanks, narratives appear in various colors, each representing a unique experience and perspective.
Visually, the work illustrates how immigrants strive to fit within the government's requirements. The composition is designed to resemble quilted fabric, symbolizing the collective yet fragmented nature of immigrant experiences. By blending official documentation with personal storytelling, the project critiques the rigid structure of naturalization while humanizing the individuals within it.
The document is a continuous 529-inch scroll of standard letter-size sheets, emphasizing the prolonged and arduous nature of the immigration process. Contained within a moving box, the scroll reinforces the idea of documentation while prompting the audience to reflect on the concept of movement, physically and metaphorically, as it relates to migration.