Empty Fortune 2.0

Ten years ago I painted a portrait of a Chinese laborer here on this very train tunnel. One hundred and fifty years ago this 1700 foot long tunnel through the Sierra Mountains was crucial in the nation's greatest engineering feat; the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. Completed in 1869 some of it's most daunting, grueling, and trying construction was chiseled by hand, for the most part, exclusively by migrant Chinese workers at a rate of less than a foot a day. While many Chinese men followed the hype of a gold rush in California very few ended up digging for gold. Instead, nearly 10,000 Chinese workers were employed in some capacity by the Central Pacific Railroad in the construction of the transcontinental railroad.

Returning ten years later the portrait is barely recognizable under layers of graffiti and wear and tear from record snowfalls. Seeing if fade reinforces the notion of immigrants being written out of our history; a wrong I was hoping to right with a small act.

This time, sitting here, thinking about history, immigrants, and current events, I can't help but think about the family that is left behind. I chose to paint an anonymous young girl with sadness and strength in her face. Because in reality sacrifices happen on both ends and children of immigrants are left to feel unloved and forgotten as they wonder if the walls around their own tunnel may come crashing down.