Hom Shee Mock, 1923 | Acrylic on canvas, 42" x 27" | Photo: Jw Diehl

While I painted Hom Shee Mock, 1923, I lived with my grandmother's mug shot and interrogation transcripts, reading them repeatedly. It was an emotionally draining experience. A language barrier and family issues kept me and my grandmother from ever speaking, but her interrogation transcripts provided me with a glimpse into her life.



Hom Shee Mock's Wedding Outfit from Her Village | Photo: JW Diehl

Following a 1998 exhibition of Hom Shee Mock, 1923, my mother wrote me a letter of appreciation for capturing her mother's sadness and anger on canvas. Up until that time, my mother and her siblings had kept up the façade that my grandmother had led a happy life. After years of unasked questions and unexpressed pain, the painting enabled my mother to begin to forgive and understand herself better.



Gift for the Grandmother (my wish for her past) | Photo: JW Diehl

Anomaly in the Veil pays homage to Chinese immigrant women--especially my grandmother--whose lives, more often than not, were never theirs to realize. I wanted to unveil these women's faces and unmask the oppression that sprang from generational factors, cultural mores, human greed or simply gender inequality.