Persephone's Panganat

Panganat (pomegranate), fruits, vegetables, and animals are used to visually symbolize this journey of identity, through collage and painting. Persephone, a fertility goddess who becomes tied to the underworld through the consumption of panganat seeds, takes on different responsibilities when moving between the mortal realm when visiting her mother and the underworld when reigning with her husband the King of Hades. Using Persephone’s narrative within Greek mythology as a reference, this work represents the meeting point of two halves of my racial identity and explores the ongoing process of navigating different social realms.

My adaptation of Persephone’s story speaks to the social pressure of forming my identity as a mixed-race person. Migration, relocation, microaggressions have led me to adapt code-switching strategies for social survival. Being compelled to express familiarity to one of my “halves” is a conditioned reaction to avoid being subjected to perceived horizontal hostility. Growing pains associated with learning who I am is enough and that I do not have to be defined by others ideas of race is shared in a series of four collages and a painting that represent transformations, growth, and processing identity.

With my ability to maneuver among both cultures and embrace what resonates with my newly realized wholeness, I am able to celebrate the goddess within me, a conqueror of both realms. My panganat moment is a visual celebration of natural and cultural elements that resonate with me and the idea of belonging somewhere “in-between.”