I created a short animated film based on an audio clip of my interview with Cynthia Yee for my "Voices of Boston's Chinatown" design project. Yee, a writer who often covers topics of growing up in Boston's Chinatown, described to me her story-telling process which starts with immersing herself in an "ether" of her own memories. As we sat in the now-closed Eldo's Cakehouse, Yee invited me into this "ether", reminiscing about the aromas she smelled, the foods she shared with childhood friends, and the sound of her seamstress mother sewing while growing up in Chinatown. I wanted to capture the shifting yet lasting impressions that Yee's stories had on herself and to me, a younger second-generation Asian American, whom she passes down these memories to. I played around with the steam coming out of Yee's piping hot milk tea from Eldo's that she was eager for me to try.
"Written in the Steam" Film
Cynthia Yee Character Sheet
