I create mixed-media collages based on deteriorating photographs and collect-ive memories of my personal and familial history as a refugee in Vietnamese internment camps. Inspired by storytelling, crafting, and myth-making, my mixed-media base is a nod to my immigrant experience. My collage patterning and layering use craft culture as a metaphor for constructing identity. However, my work is imbued with tension in its materiality and the source of its composition. The craft store jewels sparkle as if real, emphasizing the scene’s idyllic nature and belying the traumas of exile. Working from images found in family albums, digital photographs, and fashion and decor magazines, I explore an identity formed amongst and from the memories of others.