Cocoon

Warmth, protection, growth, metamorphosis - some things associated with the word ‘cocoon’. Also - a shell; a husk discarded once the creature has successfully outgrown its binds.

Our cocoon is made up of stories,
hints of nostalgia imbedded in certain smells,
actions or words,

and sometimes only feeling
but not knowing.

My cocoon is made up of things
we never spoke about
and don’t speak of anymore,

a familiarity which has no root or place
to return to when certain people go,
but also faith in what
you don’t fully understand.

----
As third culture kids, children born into two narratives in which they see themselves in neither, we adopted a third - a chasm still that breathes nostalgia but feels imaginary.

And in the process of making space for ourselves in this foreign world, we emerge from these constructions. But in doing so, we start to lose it - a metaphor for the cultures that shaped our identity, a container of emotions and nostalgia connected to our family’s journey and reasons, a structure that may have generated protection but also pain.

-----
Cocoon is a photo project that seeks to explore vulnerability and the journey of identifying the Asian diasporic self in a space that one may or may not call home. Capturing individuals in the reconstruction of their cocoons in their own created space, explores what the cocoon holds for these people. While impermanent, this is a test to see if we can materialise the fragments of these shelters, as we find ourselves on or off the cusp of losing/finding their identities and family narratives.