Memoiries
Cerise Lim Jacobs
Creator
ABOUT
I’ve been asked to write my memoirs, and I’ve always said no. No time. But really, no courage. What I do have are recurring flashbacks to moments that feel like emotional milestones. An image, a word, a color, something as trivial as inhaling the steam from a bowl of rice. Memoiries is my attempt to capture those moments, not as memoir, but as song.
These songs trace two journeys: one across oceans, away from a Singapore childhood and centuries of tradition; the other a quieter interior passage from a girl shaped by obedience and silence into a woman still finding her voice, still in the process of becoming.
Mezzo-soprano María Dominique López gives voice to all of it, with animations by my students at Lesley Art + Design and music by Jorge Sosa.
It is my hope that these songs will touch memories in you too.
ABOUT
I’ve been asked to write my memoirs, and I’ve always said no. No time. But really, no courage. What I do have are recurring flashbacks to moments that feel like emotional milestones. An image, a word, a color, something as trivial as inhaling the steam from a bowl of rice. Mémoire is my attempt to capture those moments, not as memoir, but as song.
These songs trace two journeys: one across oceans, away from a Singapore childhood and centuries of tradition; the other a quieter interior passage from a girl shaped by obedience and silence into a woman still finding her voice, still in the process of becoming.
Mezzo-soprano María Dominique López gives voice to all of it, with animations by my students at Lesley Art + Design and music by Jorge Sosa.
It is my hope that these songs will touch memories in you too.
READ MORE
These songs trace two journeys: one across oceans, away from a Singapore childhood and centuries of tradition; the other a quieter interior passage from a girl shaped by obedience and silence into a woman still finding her voice, still in the process of becoming.
Mezzo-soprano María Dominique López gives voice to all of it, with animations by my students at Lesley Art + Design and music by Jorge Sosa.
It is my hope that these songs will touch memories in you too.
BRAINWASHED
It took almost seventy years to name what had been done: Centuries of myth and culture pressing her to her knees so quietly, she hadn’t even felt it happening. She’s still working to break free.
Gran'Daddy Long Pockets
Her grandfather’s pockets reached over his knees so he could scoop up anything worth keeping. A street child’s lesson in survival, passed down.
Kintsugi
The Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold is a profound metaphor for embracing one’s own cracks and imperfections.
Breakfast Bite
At sixteen, primly presented to a potential suitor over pineapple tarts, she leans in and tells him she will have him for breakfast. She means it.