Made of an assemblage of disparate parts and objects, “Yet I Trust the Sanity of My Vessel” is a meditation on the immigrant experience in what is called the United States of America. The outline of a boat is created as a symbol of navigating an ‘in-between’ space and existing simultaneously in two worlds, a juxtaposition where one is split, always longing for a home that one can never return to, but living in another world and never being fully accepted. A boat is at once held within the laws of ocean and wind, and yet exists apart from and at the mercy of these two elements, these two states of being. One could define an immigrant as moving similarly between the two worlds of the country they left behind and the new country they find themselves in. The vessel itself is comprised of pieces of found parts and household objects, all tied together in a makeshift fashion with rope and nails. This accumulation mimics the layering of memories and stories that mold an individual’s identity and personal mythology. The deconstruction and reconstruction of common place household items creates a sense of fragmented familiarity, and in the shape of a landed boat, a sensibility bordering on the absurd. “Yet I Trust the Sanity of My Vessel” is inspired from the belief in one’s ability and buoyancy, and a declaration of willful existence.
