Born in Thailand, Natcha Wongchanglaw is a U.S.-based visual artist focused on photography. Wongchanglaw brings a professional background in studio and location portraiture to her current work as a visual artist. She received a Master’s in digital photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, New York. She is currently finishing her Master of Fine Arts thesis work at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.

In her exhibit, “Diaspora / Rights of Passage” she explores identity.

In her words:

“Freedom is defined as having the capacity to act or change without restriction or having the strength and resources to pursue one’s goals without interference. We should have the freedom to move anywhere we want or to stay if we so choose as citizens of the world. But life is not that straightforward. Although we may have rights, the freedom we believe we have may not always be the reality, and for some, the opportunity to stay or leave is not given to them. Our constitutional rights are one thing, but what we are actually permitted to do is quite another.

Our identity has come to be determined by our passports because we sometimes are not treated as individuals but as our nation of origin. Although we cannot choose where we were born, the origin of a person’s passport has unfortunately become a determining factor in whether or not they can enter a country.

The movement of people around the world is a topic that is frequently covered in news stories. Whether by choice or due to external pressure, people immigrate every day from all over the world. The history of immigration is a lengthy and continuous story of the global movement. To better understand humanity and have compassion for people from different cultures and backgrounds, it is vital to comprehend the reasons for migrating and the individual rights and limitations to do so. It is also important to recognize how a person’s place of origin influences their identity and mobility.”