TAM will be presenting the video documentation of this 2023 projection on an archival photograph by NYC and LA based visual artist Alison Chen in the museum’s lobby.

The artist says of the work:

“If she could speak, she would sing is part of an ongoing body of work that explores my conception of motherhood. In particular, I unpack how my understanding of mothering has been shaped by my experiences as a daughter, my relationship with my mother, and the lineage of mothers in my ancestry.

Interspersed, arranged, and overlapped, the images in this body of work have been born out of generations of stories, photographs, trauma, and folklore. Through crafting moments of my experiences for the camera and restaging and reinterpreting archival footage, I aim to link generations together and create a circuitous slowing down of time. My work touches on the impermanence of life, the blurring of bodies, and the historical touchstones that ground my experience as a mother.

This ongoing body of work examines my understanding of motherhood as it has been directly influenced by those of past generations. I explore how the term “mother” is constructed and understood, and how this identity is broken up, shattered, erased, and reconfigured.”