1992

Cross Cultural Pictograms

American, born 1951

Working primarily as a sculptor, Hom examines the complexities of her life as a woman, an artist, and an American of Chinese descent. This print includes the Chinese character for jung (center row, far left), meaning “center”—used in the word for China (jung guo) meaning “center country.” The other shapes are invented symbols that describe the artist’s frustration with the prevalence of language offerings other than her ancestral tongue in American schools. The bound characteristic of the forms, seemingly wrapped in thread, evokes further cultural references, such as the former practice of binding women’s feet in China.