I’ll Tell You All About It

I'll Tell You All About It is a series of collages exploring family history, memory, and the passage of time across generations. At its core, the work is a love letter to my late grandmother, who passed away in 2021. After her passing, I discovered a small notebook she had kept for over 40 years-a personal record of her daily life, filled with brief but meticulous entries. She documented everything: the meals she shared with family, the exact weight of each grandchild at birth, the small expenses of everyday life, the clothes she bought for my grandfather, the times we visited her, and even the moments she was proud of us; like when I won a contest as a child or when I decided to move to London for university. 

At first glance, these entries seemed purely practical, but as I read deeper, I realized they revealed something far more intimate. Between the numbers and brief sentences, there was a quiet, understated expression of love and devotion; an archive of her emotions, her pride in her family, her gratitude for the simple moments. She never wrote explicitly about how she felt, but the consistency of her recordings spoke volumes. Family was her whole world, and through her words, I came to understand just how deeply she cared for each of us, even in ways I had never noticed before. 

 

 

Inspired by her journal, I created this series of collages using images exclusively from my family archive, blending old photographs with more recent digital images from my phone. By layering fragments of different moments, I explore the fluidity of time, how childhood fades into adulthood, how traditions evolve, how roles shift. The act of giving and receiving red envelopes during Lunar New Year, once something I experienced as a child, is now something I witness younger generations go through. Family members who were once children in these old photographs have now become parents themselves. My grandmother, who once held us in her arms, never got to meet some of the newest additions to our family. 

These collages are my way of processing grief, reflecting on my relationship with her, and acknowledging her lasting impact on our family. The title, I'll Tell You All About It, serves as both a personal and collective statement, on one hand, it speaks to all the things I wish I could share with my grandmother since she passed, and on the other, it invites the audience into this intimate act of remembrance. In piecing together these moments, I attempt to bridge the past and present, creating a visual language that honours the legacy of love and connection she left behind.