The first pose, contrary to what most people thought, was of my mother. She would always wake me up early in the morning, screaming into a phone with anger and annoyance. To be honest, the only reason why I’m able to wake up in the mornings on the weekends is because of my mother screaming into the phone. She’s a very busy person – sometimes I hardly see her in the mornings, afternoons, and nights. She runs errands for my father, and then she has to take care of problems of numerous condos and apartments. In short, my mother is a landlady. My father on the other hand, is an architect. So while my father creates these buildings, my mother rents them out. Since my father is overseas most of the time, my mother has to deal with the tenants. She has to deal with them almost everyday, and most of the time it is through the phone. My raised hand signals her angry hand gestures, as if saying “what is the problem?” or “what do you mean?” or “I have done everything you asked for already, why are you still unsatisfied?”. My opened mouth signifies the way my mother screams into the phone occasionally, and the way my leg is propped up shows her old habits of propping up her leg. Her phone rings at least five times a day – even when she was on vacation, leaving her cell phone with my sister, it rang nonstop. My sister had to be a substitute for my mother, and I could almost see my mother in my sister as she also talks into the phone and makes the odd hand gestures.

My second pose though, is of my sister. The comments people had were correct – my raised hand and tilted head signifies asking for help. However, the pose meant more of giving help than receiving. Curled fingers are more natural than a flat hand, so giving help was more natural to my sister than receiving. My stretched hand represented how she would always be there to help me, or anyone even, whenever they needed help. She grew up with having to take care of two younger sisters, and knew of her responsibilities as the oldest child. She always tried to do the right thing and was very proper, which is the reason why I stood up straight with my feet planted firmly on the ground, side by side. Even though she knew she had a lot of responsibilities she asked for help whenever she needed it. She didn’t try to take on the world without wanting anyone else to help her, and she knew her limits. Although we don’t see each other as much as we did when I was younger, I know that she’ll always be there to help me, and that I’ll always be there to help her now.