Rose Kennedy Greenway
Misa Chhan
The Year of the Snake
Exhibition
Displayed until October 2026
Rose Kennedy Greenway
Auntie Kay & Uncle Frank Chin Park
John F Fitzgerald Surface Rd, Boston, MA 02111
Misa Chhan
Designed by Los Angeles-based artist Misa Chhan (they/them), Year of the Snake is a two-part installation composed of 20 flags and 10 aluminum prints that honor the legacy and resilience of Cambodian diasporic communities and the artist’s own family. To create each series of works, the artist drew upon a range of domestic materials –curtains, doilies, archival family photo albums, and furniture from their family home– and continued their exploration of the color blue via indigo dyeing and cyanotype processes. Taken together, Chan’s installation explores how we make home and belonging through journeys from one country to another, from one realm to another, and even in the everyday transitions and changes from one moment to the next.
Across 10 cyanotype-printed flags, Chhan positioned the Chinese character, fu, meaning ‘blessing’ and ‘luck’, between the double imprint of a headboard made by the artist’s father. Digitally manipulated to appear upside down, the character fu is commonly hung in this way so that blessings may pour into the receiver’s life, and as a wish for prosperity to descend upon a dwelling. In this work, Chhan honors their father, who passed away five years ago. For the 10 indigo-dyed flags, the artist drew inspiration from Octavia Butler’s iconic speculative fiction novel Parable of the Sower. Set in a post-apocalyptic Earth heavily affected by climate change and social inequality, a main tenet within the novel is “The only lasting truth is Change,” meaning that change is the fundamental reality, and humans can shape and direct it, rather than relying on a divine being for guidance. Chhan stitched this quote atop an indigo shibori-dyed spider web –a symbol of strength, community, and connection– all things that help us survive and thrive through change.
