Stratagems (an overture)

Stratagems (an overture) is a visual document of archival materials, film stills, and photographs, part of an overarching project, Stratagems (Orange County), which considers Orange County, California’s history of landholdings, subdivisions, conservatism, and underrepresented narratives through the lens of being a multiracial Chicana and a transracial adoptee. Situated in the double lens of otherness inherent to adoption and mixed-race experiences, Stratagems examines autobiographical and historical accounts, mapping the relationship between home, place, and belonging as a multimedia autoethnography. Drawing on regional archives, this ongoing work aims to interrogate a history of racism within OC connected to the rise of white nationalism and the religious right, libertarianism, and anti-immigration policies within Southern California.

This project began in late-2019, and its forthcoming large-scale artist book will release in 2025. Current archival research is being conducted in public archives at the Orange County & Southeast Asian Archive Center at the University of California Irvine (Irvine, CA) and the Orange County Archives (Santa Ana, CA). Archival images are courtesy of OC Archives. All other images and text by the artist.