Mobile Mia: CarryOn Homes Collaboration

Come see and be a part of My Story is My Home with CarryOn Homes and the Mobile Mia bike at various locations throughout Minneapolis in the summer of 2019.

“My Story is My Home” asks the simple question: what is home to you? Whether near or far, exploring these feelings about home can be a powerful experience capable of healing and connection within yourself and with others.

CarryOn Homes invites participants to write down their stories of home on a sheet of origami paper that can be folded to form a house that holds the memories, sensations and emotions that may no longer be at arm’s reach. This seemingly insignificant action represents the massively complicated journey that immigrants, migrants and refugees undertake every day.

To begin the conversation CarryOn Homes has invited five different immigrant artists living in the Twin Cities area to translate their ideas of home into a visual language for you to correspond with. If you are at a loss for words, draw a picture or just leave it blank and their designs will carry the story.

On July 27, Xingzi Liang provided the final design for My Story is My Home. Xingzi is a graphic designer who comes from China. She often draws inspiration from life and pays attention to details.  She received her BFA in Artistic Design in Beijing and currently enrolled at the MFA in Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Liang’s work combines with different textures and small pattern together. These patterns are done by Liang and her friends together by the method of hand embroidery, and they express the small objects they think are appropriate for homes. In China, hand embroidery is a traditional handicraft that is usually a daily work for women. This gentle expression is closer to life than hand-painted, more intimate, and makes people feel warm and comfortable.

On July 26, My Story is My Home joined the Cultural Wellness Center and the Backyard Community Health Hub, at the Midtown Global Market. Joi Yao was the lead artist. Joi Wenjin
Yao is a comic artist from China and currently based in Minneapolis. She creates mysterious semi-autobiographical comics without a clear story line. People either don’t want to read her comics or would read them twice.

On July 24, My Story is My Home was at Peavey Park. The lead artist was Yi Wan. Yi Wan is an illustrator originally from Hebei, China. Influenced by traditional Chinese realistic painting, Yi’s work is often characterized by detailed linework and subtle colors. Yi enjoys illustrating figural and natural subject matters and she usually draws inspiration from life. Yi received her BFA in Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2019, Yi graduated from the MFA in Visual Studies program from Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On July 14, My Story is My Home was at Twin Cities World Refugee Day in Loring Park. Xiaojie Liu was the lead artist. She is based in Minneapolis but was born and raised in Enshi, China. When she was four, she was given my first set of watercolor brush and sketchbook, and since then, she started drawing and never stopped. She focuses on children’s illustration, editorial illustration and surface design, etc. for a wide range of projects including children’s books, publications, magazines, branding, packaging and many more. Most of her work explores her sense of cultural dislocation.

On June 29, My Story is My Home joined the Whittier Alliance table at Somali Independence Day.  Isabela Cruz was the lead artist. Isabela is an Ecuadorian illustrator living in Minneapolis, MN. Most of her inspiration comes from the natural world by studying leaves and flowers during the warmer months, and the fascinating patterns of ice during winter time. The organic character of her work exemplifies her deep connection to the natural world of her native land, and her new home in the Midwest. Isabela is passionate about pattern making and exploring different textures created with both traditional and digital media. She is interested in developing complementary designs that support a healthy, conscious and sustainable lifestyle.