Meg is a Korean intercountry adoptee, raised in Australia and a comic artist. She makes largely autobiographical and non-fiction work that has appeared in The Nib, The Lily, Liminal Magazine, The Comics Journal and anthologies including Comic Sans,Steady Diet, Threads That Connect Us and the Eisner award-winning Drawing Power: Women’s Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment and Survival. She has exhibited comic, animation and film work internationally, taught comic making to university students, developed and delivered comics programs to high school-aged students from migrant and refugee backgrounds with STARTTS, and art programs to elementary-aged students in Korea. Meg is currently working on a long-form work based on her experiences as the Asian child of white parents in Australia, a recent period of living in Korea, and a failed search for her Korean mother.
She created the artwork for our K-Box Adoptee Takeover Night promotional material and ZINE:
Meg also presented as one of our adoptee artists and you can watch the video of her presentation here:
You can also view it in the web version format for those who prefer to read and see.
As a result of my attendance at The Hague Working Group for Illicit Practices in Adoption meeting in May, I met with over 20 Central Authority representatives. One of them was the Executive Director of the Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB) in the Philippines. She has invited ICAV as a guest speaker to the 15th Philippine Global Consultation of Child Welfare Services in September this year. Who best to speak than Anna who is a Filipino intercountry adoptee and long serving ICAV Representative!
The work we do at ICAV is done via volunteer time and effort. Travelling around the world to share our lived experience is costly so it is hugely appreciated when others recognise the personal cost and offer to assist.
The amazing and talented Gabby Malpas (ICAV NSW Representative) has been generous by donating 3 pieces of her artwork to help Anna attend. Gabby is running an online Art Auction and the proceeds are being donated to contribute to Anna’s travel expenses. If you would like to support this, go to Gabby’s professional facebook page Gabby’s Art Auction, find the image you want to bid on, and add your bid in the comment by Wed 31 July 11:59pm AEST. The highest bidder wins and the proceeds will be donated, with Australian tax deductibility, towards Anna’s travel expenses.
I would like to personally thank Gabby for her amazing generosity in this specific instance, but also for her long serving role within ICAV as one of our NSW Representatives! Gabby gives her time to many areas in post adoption support. She continues to run her watercolour art classes for teenage Chinese adoptees in Sydney as part of her mentoring role for young adoptees and donates artwork to various adoptive parent and post adoption support organisations around the world because she is passionate about helping her fellow adoptees.
Here are the 3 pieces of artwork that Gabby is donating towards Anna’s travel costs:
All you need is love Watercolour and gouache on Arches paper. 24cm x 28cm. Unframed. RRP $600AUD. Story: For many years the standard adoption mantra has been “all you need is love”. I applaud the sentiment and I’m thankful to parents for opening their hearts when adopting a child. However, we now know that love is sometimes not enough in the case of adopted children. There can be unseen trauma and issues needing to be addressed and in the case of intercountry and transracial adoption, issues around identity, racial discrimination and loss of culture need to be taken into account. This can be confusing as the child’s life experience will be different to that of their adoptive parents – and the adopted child may be completely unprepared for a world of hurt once they leave the security and safety of their home environment and community. Postage: $18 in Australia. $35AUD everywhere else.
I will not love you long time Watercolour and gouache on Arches paper. 39cm x 28cm. Unframed. RRP $975AUD. Story: Fetishisation of Asian women is still prevalent and seemingly acceptable long after it has been deemed unacceptable for other races. I won’t/can’t complain about my own treatment as a young woman: I am no angel and I gave back more than I got, I am sure. But I painted this for those who come after me – they deserve better. Postage: $18 in Australia. $35AUD everywhere else.
Rise above it Watercolour and gouache on Arches paper. 27.5cm x 30cm. Unframed. RRP $800AUD. Story: As an Asian living in western countries, racist incidents are not uncommon. As an adoptee raised in a white family, I did not learn how to navigate this path and my experiences were dismissed as it was not a shared experience. The well-meaning advice given constantly of “rise above it” was incredibly damaging. It dismissed my experiences, silenced me and consequently I grew up with very low self esteem, much self doubt and a rage that surprises me even today. Postage: $18 in Australia. $35AUD everywhere else.
