Critique with Amanda

Just wanted to post quickly more for my own reference about what Amanda and I spoke about in the critique.
She gave me a very interesting word to think about: "alterity," meaning a sort of otherness. We talked about how immigrants, no matter how integrated into another culture they become, will always feel some form of otherness. Further, how it is important for me to convey this feeling to viewers who do not understand the immigrant experience. I want to capture that feeling of being an "other," whether it was a fleeting thought or a lifetime of experience, from the viewer so that they can actually have that experience with the work, even if it does not specifically reference their own life.
We also spoke about the importance of display (a recurring theme) and how it affects the pieces. I was very surprised at how her simple reversing of one of my pieces changed it drastically and went from something that was not satisfactory into more of what I had previously envisioned. She reinforced the fact that I need to experiment with lighting more, as she showed how the cast shadows gave a very different effect than the direct image. She said that the pieces are too important to display arbitrarily, which I completely agree with.
We focused on my great grandfather Kiyoshi specifically and his experience, which actually reflected the same pattern that occurred when I spoke to Deborah. It seems like this project is leaning towards emphasizing him, mostly because he is so fascinating and I have many of his belongings and photographs. Also, that I must investigate his identity as opposed to already knowing is a very interesting aspect and makes the project exciting for me.