For many immigrants, coming to a new country is all about chasing a better life. Most, if not all, do not just move for themselves, but for their families back home. “We support our families financially because it’s the dream of a better life — a chance to grow, succeed, and give our families more than we had. Deep down, we’re chasing a better life, hoping the opportunities we find in a new place will be worth all the struggle,” my mom once said to me. It was never easy to walk away from everything you knew and leave behind the familiarity of home, and adapting to a new culture was never simple. Through my personal experiences as an immigrant, and seeing my mom go through the same struggles before me, I’ve come to understand just how hard the journey can be. She was like a ray of light, a guide in the dark.

I wanted to honour my mother by creating a simple art piece that represents her sacrifice, hope, and love for our family. I began by sketching a figure glowing while standing in darkness to reflect her passion and strength. Next, I drew a suitcase and a destination for the figure to carry. Inside the suitcase were broken hearts trailing behind in a vast space of emptiness, symbolizing the sacrifices and losses she endured during her journey of immigration and independence. The destination she carried stood for her perseverance. I also painted a thought bubble with a hand on her back, showing that her determination was the only thing supporting her on this lonely path. Lastly, I added shadows of loss in the form of negative thoughts floating around the canvas. I hope the meaning and simplicity behind this art piece helps to support those who are going through hard times!

What drives someone to leave behind their home and start a new, fresh life in Canada? For many immigrants, it is the hope for a better life, safety, or to reunite with family. For my sister, it was studying. Ater living in Canada for a while, she wanted to return home but the war started, and she had to stay in Canada for safety. Despite the struggles, immigrants bring valuable skills, perspectives, and traditions that enrich Canadian society. Over time, they find a way to blend their heritage with their new life, contributing to the country’s diversity and growth. My sister, as a communication manager, helped a lot of Canadians, growing her skills that she brought from Ukraine.

          For my art piece, I decided to create an acrylic painting. On the canvas, I drew a book as a main element in the artwork because my sister first came to Canada for studying. On the left side of the book, I drew a Ukrainian flag as the background. On the flag, I drew an Ukrainian church and a sunflower field representing our culture and religion. On the right side of the book, there is Canadian flag for the background and a cityscape of Toronto, with Lake Ontario flowing off the page looking like Niagara Falls. The trees around Toronto represent the rich diversity and a healthy ecosystem in Canada. I added a footpath from Ukraine’s to Canada’s side of the page representing the long journey, and a paper airplane representing the flight to the bright future.

Moving to Canada is exciting, but it comes with challenges. From language tests to job hunting and finding a place to live, the process can be overwhelming.The transition can be challenging due to language barriers, housing difficulties, and job market adjustments. Being aware of these obstacles helped my mom adapt more smoothly to life in Canada.

I started by brainstorming how to represent my mom’s journey traveling throughout Taiwan and Canada and making these places her home. I knew that I really wanted to show the two most meaningful buildings of these two countries that people can instantly recognize. I finally decided to do a cityscape in a shoe box, where half of the box represented Taipei 101 and the other half was the CN tower.

I invited my mother to have a seat at the table. Some things I learned while interviewing her was that when immigrating, there may be difficulties that people have to face.  Many individuals immigrate in search of a better life, more opportunities, to escape war, or to reunite with family. However, the process is not easy. For example, immigrants often have to prove financial stability or obtain a valid visa. The immigration process can be complex and lengthy. Adjusting to a new location brings more challenges, such as learning a new language or adapting to a different culture. In many cases, immigrants must also meet specific requirements, qualifications, or skill sets to be accepted. My mom went through all of this when immigrating to Canada.

The inspiration for my artwork is to show both perspectives from one view to another. I showed the paper being split with an airplane going between both locations, symbolizing a new chapter in life. Through my artwork, showing snippets of both Toronto and Hainan, my work explores the idea of cultural duality. By physically dividing the surface, I encourage people to see past both literal and symbolic borders and explore multi-layered identities influenced by memory, geography, and individual experiences. The two locations represent my mom’s journey between home and abroad, East and West.

   During the interview, I learned that immigrants will encounter many difficulties and challenges, many of which are encountered for the first time, such as language, life, social and economic issues. During the immigration period, I also encountered difficulties such as being misunderstood, questioned and suspected by others, but these difficulties and challenges can be resolved over time.

The work I created is called "Bubble." I believe that people will encounter many challenges and difficulties in life, but these challenges and difficulties are temporary and crucial to your success. I created this painting with watercolours, and my creative concept is to integrate these challenges and difficulties into a bubble. The bubble will burst one day, and these difficulties will be resolved over time.

My mother wanted to try a new life, so she immigrated to Canada. When my mother came to Canada, she encountered language barriers. However, living in Canada for a while helped break down her language barriers. My mother was also trying to communicate with foreigners and understand their accents. Our culture was different from that of the locals, but she tried to integrate into the local customs and environment. She wanted to make friends with the locals and talk to them more.

In my work, I created the name "The New Life" because my mom came to Canada to try living a new life. I drew a map of Canada and a map of China, and used stars to mark the city where my mom used to live in China, and the city where my mom lives in Canada now. I also drew a barrier that is about to be broken, with English inside, to show that my mom has some language barriers in Canada. I drew buildings in Shanghai and Toronto because Shanghai is the city where my mother used to live, and Toronto is the city where my mother immigrated to. Finally, I drew the New Zealand flag in a hidden but not too hidden place in the painting to express that this was my mother’s second choice for immigration if not Canada.

Today, I am offering my mom a seat at the table. My mom came to Canada 10 years ago when my dad sponsored her. She was lost when she first arrived and could not speak the language or communicate. She was treated with lots of racism and was judged a lot. My mom had a lot of trouble taking care of me and my older sister, especially when she gave birth to my younger brother, but with my dad's support, she got through it and started a new life here in Canada. 

On my canvas, I made a collage of Turkey on one side and Canada on the other. It represents my mom being separated from her home country and being forced into a new life. 

     I am going to invite my mom to a seat at the table. My mom came to Canada with me and my dad in July 2024. While she did not experience any forms of racism in Canada, she felt lost when she first came. She also faced some challenges such as not knowing how to drive, finding a job, and trying to find services for healthcare. Hopefully, her relatives and new friends here helped her out. My mom misses her co-workers, friends and family in Hong Kong a lot, and she believes that immigrating to a new country is not easy.

The empty suitcase that filled in the space in the middle of the art piece symbolizes how my mom felt lost and empty when she first came to Canada. The brick wall behind the suitcase represents the challenges she faced. The butterflies flying to the ray of sunshine at the corner through the wall represents her overcoming the challenges. I chose butterflies as they represent change, transformation, hope during a dark time, and new beginnings. The letters represent how much my mom missed her friends, relatives, and co-workers in Hong Kong and would constantly contact them.

I began by carefully reviewing the information gathered from my interview and organizing key ideas in a separate document. I then brainstormed various ways to visually represent the themes and messages that were brainstormed. To create an attractive and meaningful illustration, I chose a creative approach, dividing the paper in half with a bold line, symbolizing the contrast and connection between two countries. China, my mother's homeland, and Canada, the country my mom immigrated to. On the Chinese side, I illustrated the Great Wall of China to represent our cultural heritage. On the Canadian side, I included multiple flags to highlight the nation's rich diversity. This composition allowed me to meaningfully express the journey of immigration and the blending of two distinct cultures through art.

  The person I interviewed came to Canada for better education and freedom, and I learned that a big problem most immigrants face is language barriers along with bullying and exclusion. I learned that he came to Markham specifically because it is an Asian community and he would fit in better. He had a hard time making friends during his first year in Canada. He got bullied multiple times due to not being able to speak English well and being Chinese. It was also hard for him to adjust because he had to move houses a lot. 

          The person at the centre of my art piece resembles my friend and his Chinese religion, and the target made of bad words resembles the challenges and bullying that he faced when he came to Canada. I created the target of bad words and my friend at the center because he was targeted by racism due to him having a Chinese background and him not being able to speak English well.

 Many people around the world immigrate to Canada. Some reasons include better education, more job opportunities, lower crime rates, and more. People want to move to Canada for these positives, but not everyone can—some are held back by money, medical reasons, or other challenges. This is what happened to my mom. She wanted to immigrate to Canada, but at the time, she did not have enough money. To make her dream possible, she started tutoring people and slowly earned enough money to come to Canada. In my artwork, it will express my mom’s life and journey to Canada.

I drew a plane to show the way she came to Canada, with the two parts showing Air Canada and Cathay Pacific. Since my mom was born in Hong Kong, the Cathay Pacific plane represents  that. I drew a snake on the left side to show her identity and  represent the year she was born according to the Chinese calendar. Before she came to Canada, my mom studied in Hong Kong and then went to Singapore to work as a radiation therapist. The MRI machine shows the career that she brought with her to Canada. The painting is bright and colourful because it represents how fulfilling her immigration journey to Canada was. 

Through my interview, I learned that many immigrants that have a family have decided to move to other countries with their loved ones for many reasons. Some of the reasons include better education for the kids, or the tax prices are too high. When people are immigrating, most but not all have to endure changes in their daily life. When immigrants move to other countries, many miss their families in their home country. 

The “Light of Justice” means carrying the light of support to various communities and to eliminate darkness that comes in the form of acts like racism. The light of support is in the form of a balloon being carried by the individual. The darkness represents the cruel community that supports racism. “When darkness comes, the light goes away.” 

I invited Ms. Lau to have A Seat at the Table. She was born in Hong Kong and used to sell things at malls and was very talented and knowledgeable. Ms. Lau is a hard-working person who drives for ambition. She came to Canada in 1996 by plane to pursue education and was a permanent resident for 3 years before becoming a citizen. 

I drew “An Abstract Life” to represent the ever-changing and abstract life of Ms. Lau. She landed in Vancouver, British Columbia, stayed in Edmonton, Alberta and got her driver’s license. Then, she moved to Toronto, Ontario, and pursued her university studies in Waterloo, Ontario before moving to different places in the Greater Toronto Area while exploring jobs in the education field. The colourful doodles reflect how her life cannot be represented by one thing but instead is made up of so many different and diverse parts.

I invited my mom to have a seat at the table. My mom was originally from Taiwan, and came to Canada at the age of 24, after marrying my dad, who had already immigrated there. Since immigrating to Canada, she has felt that it is a country with a lot of freedom. However, one of her main challenges has been the language, because she mostly spoke Chinese in Taiwan. 

Taiwan is a very convenient country, where people can eat out or buy takeout everyday, and there are many small restaurants everywhere. Compared to Taiwan, Canada is not as convenient. When she came here, she had to cook more often. My mom’s friends and family are all in Taiwan, so when she faces challenges, she could not turn to them immediately. However, adjusting to life in Canada was not too difficult for her. My mom does not regret emigrating, but she misses her friends and family back in Taiwan.

In my painting, I decided to divide the canvas into two halves, one representing Taiwan and the other Canada. I drew a flag incorporating both countries in it. I included a plane to represent how my mom came here by plane. In the middle of the painting, I decided to add an image of a person holding a heart to represent how my mom felt welcomed when she came to Canada. I decided to go with the theme of splitting the painting into two halves to compare her life in the past and her life now.

  My mom came to Canada by airplane when she was six years old.  She was only in grade one, but the teachers welcomed her with open arms. Hong Kong was very competitive and stressful in schools, so this was a very easy transition for her. My mom really enjoyed living in Canada, and she   didn’t have any regrets coming  here because it was very easy for her to adjust to the new lifestyle.  

This black and white drawing of an airplane symbolizes the process of migration, carrying stories and memories. The contrast of black and white reflects the emotions that often accompany immigration: fear and excitement, loss and opportunity, leaving and arriving.

My grandma originally lived in Taiwan. Her husband was the first one to immigrate, followed by her and the rest of her family. At first, she was not used to the food in Canada, but she later adapted to the new life. When she arrived in Canada, a big problem was learning how to speak English to find a job and to make friends. In the end, she thought that immigrating to Canada was a good choice. She made many friends and has been very happy.

I drew a broken line separating the differences between Taiwan and Canada, using many Canadian and Taiwanese symbols to represent each country. On the Canada side, I added education and health care because those are some main reasons people immigrate to Canada. On the Taiwan side, I added some things that they were improving on that were not as good compared to in Canada. For example, lack of education and health care in the 1970s. 

This artwork shows what it feels like to leave your home and move to a new country. The airplane in the sky represents how my mom came to Canada. The plane shows travel, change, and hope for something better. The feelings behind this journey are mixed—there’s sadness from saying goodbye, but also excitement for a fresh start.

In the background, you can see the crowded city turning into the calm, open land of Canada. That shows how her life was changing. There’s also a small drawing of my mom’s grandma, to show that even if you move far away, you still love and remember your family.

My mom moved to Canada when she was 29. At first, it was hard—things felt unfamiliar and sometimes lonely. But her relatives helped her settle in, and over time she got used to the quiet and peaceful environment. She was thankful for the support and felt proud of the new life she was building.

This art piece is about being brave, starting over, and holding on to the people and memories that matter most.