Mika Sperling
Mother Tongue
In Mother Tongue I reflect on my relationship with my Vietnamese mother-in-law. With the intention of a better understanding, I illuminate various aspects, such as the role of my own little daughter and the influence of origin and culture on interpersonal relationships. Language takes on a key role, as it is a constant barrier between me and my mother-in-law. My own mother tongue, Russian, is part of my identity, but I must learn it again after a long period of time in order to pass on this part of myself to my daughter, who is expected to possibly act as a link between me and my mother-in-law in the future. In this process I am also documenting learning Vietnamese through my husband. Ultimately I am giving a glimpse into my own lived experience in an interracial relationship as well becoming a mother of a mixed raced child that grows up multilingual. In addition to photographs, I realized my project by means of video, sound recordings, writing and lipstick prints.
