cianfranov1
"December,1991" MFA Thesis Installation
Setting: Winter. 1991 in Trumbull, CT
It’s dinner time on a weeknight in the dead of winter. My mother is making pasta and there is the smell of food in the air. I’m six years old watching my mom cook. She looks tired, the yellow tiles and dark wood of the kitchen give her a sickly complexion, she works three jobs and is never home. There is an open space between the stove and the breakfast bar on the other side of the kitchen. I watch her long red nails stir the pasta in the boiling water as I spin in the stool. All I hear is the refrigerator and the occasional jingle of her long beaded earrings. I’ve been home watching t.v all day, it’s been too cold outside to play. Her feet hurt she says. I say I’m sick of pasta. She takes a deep sigh. I get up and turn the radio on to 102.9 the oldies station in the next room. The Beegees “Night Fever” comes on the radio. I get excited because I know she likes this song. The mood is lifted and I start spinning around in circles.
“Mom! Mom! Look how many times I spin!” She glances up from the stove, I spin around a few times and fall. My heart is beating a million miles an hour in my chest and we start laughing. Now my mom is snapping her fingers and swinging her hips behind the stove. Her earrings and bracelets are jingling along to the music. I start jumping in circles singing along to the music. My mom stops dancing to look at me. She starts laughing. Now we are both acting silly. She swings her legs from side to side like they’re broken while she snaps to the music. I’m bent over with laughter because I’m trying to copy her. The song ends and a commercial comes on. My mom is smiling as she walks back to the stove. I lay on the ground, my heart is pumping and I’m breathing heavy with a big smile on my face. My mother says “okay now, you gonna eat right? “How much are you going to give me?” I say. “You gonna eat what I give you, dai su.”
The smile on my face is gone. I’m sick of pasta and I want to play more. She is making my plate when Sonny and Cher comes on. “I Got You Babe” starts to play and we both get excited. It’s her favorite song. The only one she knows the chorus to. She’s been singing the chorus to me since I was a baby. I know the whole song. I run to my mom and grab her hands swinging them from side to side as I sing the song to her. When the chorus kicks in she drags me to the other room and we start to dance and sing together. She swings me in circles. My socks are coming off from dancing and she pulls them off and throws them across the room. I put my feet on her feet and we keep spinning. She swings my arms from side to side and I start doing the twist. She acts impressed by my dance moves and asks me to show her how to do it. Now we are doing the twist. The song ends. I hug her legs. She runs her fingers through my hair and comments on how long it’s getting. It’s time to eat. She puts the plate on the table and I sit down with my pasta. She sits with me and rubs her feet. Her feet hurt. I feel loved. The pasta was good.
"December,1991" MFA Thesis Installation
Setting: Winter. 1991 in Trumbull, CT
It’s dinner time on a weeknight in the dead of winter. My mother is making pasta and there is the smell of food in the air. I’m six years old watching my mom cook. She looks tired, the yellow tiles and dark wood of the kitchen give her a sickly complexion, she works three jobs and is never home. There is an open space between the stove and the breakfast bar on the other side of the kitchen. I watch her long red nails stir the pasta in the boiling water as I spin in the stool. All I hear is the refrigerator and the occasional jingle of her long beaded earrings. I’ve been home watching t.v all day, it’s been too cold outside to play. Her feet hurt she says. I say I’m sick of pasta. She takes a deep sigh. I get up and turn the radio on to 102.9 the oldies station in the next room. The Beegees “Night Fever” comes on the radio. I get excited because I know she likes this song. The mood is lifted and I start spinning around in circles.
“Mom! Mom! Look how many times I spin!” She glances up from the stove, I spin around a few times and fall. My heart is beating a million miles an hour in my chest and we start laughing. Now my mom is snapping her fingers and swinging her hips behind the stove. Her earrings and bracelets are jingling along to the music. I start jumping in circles singing along to the music. My mom stops dancing to look at me. She starts laughing. Now we are both acting silly. She swings her legs from side to side like they’re broken while she snaps to the music. I’m bent over with laughter because I’m trying to copy her. The song ends and a commercial comes on. My mom is smiling as she walks back to the stove. I lay on the ground, my heart is pumping and I’m breathing heavy with a big smile on my face. My mother says “okay now, you gonna eat right? “How much are you going to give me?” I say. “You gonna eat what I give you, dai su.”
The smile on my face is gone. I’m sick of pasta and I want to play more. She is making my plate when Sonny and Cher comes on. “I Got You Babe” starts to play and we both get excited. It’s her favorite song. The only one she knows the chorus to. She’s been singing the chorus to me since I was a baby. I know the whole song. I run to my mom and grab her hands swinging them from side to side as I sing the song to her. When the chorus kicks in she drags me to the other room and we start to dance and sing together. She swings me in circles. My socks are coming off from dancing and she pulls them off and throws them across the room. I put my feet on her feet and we keep spinning. She swings my arms from side to side and I start doing the twist. She acts impressed by my dance moves and asks me to show her how to do it. Now we are doing the twist. The song ends. I hug her legs. She runs her fingers through my hair and comments on how long it’s getting. It’s time to eat. She puts the plate on the table and I sit down with my pasta. She sits with me and rubs her feet. Her feet hurt. I feel loved. The pasta was good.