3. Saliency
SALIENCY was born from an exploration of the personal — first, with the uncovering of family narratives from my parents and their histories; then, with a decoding of my brother’s experiences with diabetes as a child.
I attempted to peer into expectations through personal anecdotes, but constantly felt the pull back to my own struggles at the time. Wanting to finally create something for myself and about myself, SALIENCY was how I was able to speak about my transitions of understanding identity.
Along with my personal excerpts, I gathered material from childhood friend Ingrid Chang, community narratives shared by Gaysian Third Space, and Alok Vaid-Menon — individuals that I grew alongside with that shaped the perceptions of my identity.
SALIENCY deals with contexts that construct and challenge my trans identity, especially ones that were felt particularly resonant during the time of creation.
These are shown with visual cues throughout the book, with its undulations with what is visible and what is not.
Direction, Design, Documentation: Reginald Lin