Lin-Lin Mao Mollitor: Looking Back at ‘65

July 3-August 2

In this exhibition, Seattle artist Lin-Lin Mao Mollitor looks back at the pivotal year in her life, 1965, when she was uprooted from the Chinese culture she was born into and transplanted to the American culture that has been her home ever since.

This exhibition includes paintings of her memories of that year, as well as paintings that speak to identity. It includes wildflower sculptures made of wire and beads, which represent hope and belonging in an increasingly connected world. Looking back now as a 65-year-old, she titles the work with meaning from her lived experience.

These works comment on growing up a young immigrant living between and within two very diffierent cultures in a changing world. She did not see anyone who looked like her in popular American culture, and her parents saw her only as Chinese. She grew up feeling invisible and not fully belonging to either tradition.

What an American ‘looks like’ has changed in the last 60 years, and now there is pushback by many who take issue with this—yet this exhibition is a glimpse at a very American story.

This exhibition includes a wildflower sculpture made of wire and beads, which represent hope and belonging in an increasingly connected world. The sculpture is in the form of a child holding the American flag. Mollitor dedicates the sculpture to the Dreamers who grew up in the US and feel American but do not have legal permanent residency.

The artist will be donating the proceeds of the sale of individual stems of wildflowers to Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. NWIRP defends and advances the rights of immigrants in Washington State through advocacy and legal services.