Garden in the Desert: A Solo Exhibition by Mary Pakinee
As a young child who grew up with soap operas, you will often hear, "I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life." That sentence led you to believe that 'Weddings' and the act of becoming a bride are constructed to represent an ideal life that has already been accomplished. Then you'll mold your thoughts around weddings and marriages, which are used to emphasize the relationship. You believe it will always be this beautiful and incredible. But little pieces of you get chipped away by another person. So small you did not notice. You shave minor parts of yourself away so that you will fit together. And then one day you look up and realize, you do not even know who you are anymore. As if
you awoke to find yourself transformed into a plant in the middle of a desert. You are not even sure that you are still alive or you have shriveled up and died.