featured in no longer transparent a risd exhibition
image source: rhode island school of design
If I tried combining my family’s last names together, it could probably translate to
“ten thousand kings remain in a forest of willow trees”
but if we must share one last name, maybe it would be
“fish”.
余
万
杨
王
鱼
Yú Family
Linlin Yu
BFA Industrial Design 2025
Charcoal, ink on bristol paper
Every summer, Hu Zi and Lao Ye return with a pail of fish from the dock. Ba steams one as Ma sets six bowls of rice on the table. Six pairs of chopsticks mingle.
“Beware of the bones!”
The warm scent of ginger and scallion lingers as Lao Lao and I stuff the empty plates with soap bubbles. I ponder about the different surnames in my family. If Lao Lao’s “Yang” and Ba’s “Wang” somehow sounded like Lao Ye and Ma’s “Wan” or Hu Zi and Linlin’s “Yu”, what about this warm meal would be different? The cycle of fishing, feeding fish, and feasting on fish is a tradition that remains a part of us.
(“Yu” is a Mandarin homophone, commonly translated as “remainder” or “fish”)
Ma 妈
万
Ba 爸
王
Lao Lao 姥姥
杨
Lao Ye 姥爷
万
Hu Zi 琥子
余
Linlin 琳琳
余
余
remainder
鱼
fish
