UCLA Journal of Radiation Oncology APRIL 2023 - Flipbook - Page 8
Free Copyright Katasi Kulubya
UCLA RADIATION ONCOLOGY JOURNAL
Within this collage, Katasi is able to fully embody
both the basketball-loving boy and the jump-roping
girl she has always been, she is able to share her
father’s steadfast care for his family, and she is able
to simultaneously create a scene that normalizes a
Black family in suburbia during a time when that was
uncommon and often uncomfortable. Katasi told me
her “intent with this piece was more about trying to
recreate my privileged upbringing because I knew
how unique and special it was—as a biracial black girl
with immigrant parents, not raised in a struggle—and
bringing this memory to the forefront, because it is
beautiful, and showing it through a Black American
family to drive a stronger message that is consistent
in the whole series.”
empowered,” she incorporates both masc- and fempresenting individuals of both sexes. Those making
eye contact with the viewer are doing so intentionally.
And each item included in a collage is placed for
either symbolic or literal significance, not a single
pixel added or altered without consideration.
“Blue in Green” shares her family in a recreation
or reimagining of her history: a normal and happy
suburban family, the “American Dream” Mercedes
station wagon, and a carefree moment captured.
Katasi has placed herself in the collage twice: as
the boy playing basketball and as the girl jumping
rope with her sister; this is one of the nuances to
her childhood experience that the collage allows
her to shine the light of day upon, as a reality.
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