71. Fragments of a Dream

June 13 through November 24, 2009

Main Building - 3rd Floor Mezzanine Gallery

Photographer Maria Lau was born and raised in New Jersey. She came to photography after her initial studies in Latin American history and anthropology. Her photographs, which often reflects her multicultural heritage, is a self-explanatory documentary in a fine art context. She has been photographing Cuba since 1998 as an on-going project to document the Cuban lifestyle that she dreamt of, but that she could not be part of, as a child.

The series “71 - Fragments of a Dream” is a project motivated by Ms. Lau’s hope of uniting her Cuban and Chinese family. She creates photographic images through a technique of in-camera double exposure. There is always an element of chance in the process; the photographer cannot know in advance of taking the exposures how the multiple images will line up in the picture frame – what will stand out, what new pairings will square off against each other. This technique allows Lau to explore her Cuban-Chinese-American heritage and the guesswork of personal identity as phenomena of multiplicity and chance – culturally, ethnically and nationally.

Related programming:

Food for Thought - First Friday Lunchtime Lecture

71. Fragments of a Dream - exhibition tour and talk

Friday, October 2, 2009; 12 noon
Main Museum building; free
Curator led gallery walk through 71. - Fragments of a Dream.

Main Museum Building and Auditorium Galleries
205 West State Street, Trenton Tuesday – Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm Sunday, noon to 5 pm
Closed Mondays & State Holidays