71
The "71" series began in 2003, as a multi-media documentary based on Maria Lau’s investigations into her cultural identity and ancestry. The work is both personal and documentary as Lau takes a historical and cultural journey of her Cuban-Chinese heritage. The experiential work begins with a familial search that explores Cuba, California, New York/New Jersey, and unravels over many years into unification of Cuban and Chinese family members. The main photographic technique of in-camera double exposures that Lau uses for "71", invites the element of chance in the process. This allows Lau to fortuitously investigate her Cuban-Chinese-American heritage and personal identity as phenomena of multiplicity and chance – culturally, ethnically and nationally.
