Colby Lamson-Gordon examines intercountry adoption through image, video, and sound. The mouth becomes a central metaphor: the character for “return” (回 huí) contains the radical 口 kǒu, evoking the adoptee’s tension between unknown birth family, DNA-laden saliva, and inability to speak Mandarin. Through physical and chemical deconstructive image processes, Lamson-Gordon builds layered compositions that foreground repetition, duration, and the labor of reconstruction. When facts falter, imagination and imperfect ties to place generate new meanings. Longing runs through their practice, linking queer experience with the complexities of transnational, transracial adoption to explore cultural liminality.
Colby Lamson-Gordon is a Brooklyn-based artist working across image, video, and sound. Adopted from China to the United States, they explore (dis)placement and imagined memory through process-driven images and experimental documentary. Their practice draws on the archive and embodied knowledge to probe longing and the instability of personal history. Lamson-Gordon’s work has shown at Ridgewood Off-Kilter Film Festival, East Village Film Festival, Residency Unlimited, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Mannes School of Music, and Gallery ZXY. They hold an MFA in Design & Technology from Parsons School of Design and a BA in Economics from Barnard College, where they received the O’Connor Award for best economic thesis. An upcoming resident at NARS Foundation and Vermont Studio Center, they live in Brooklyn and teach at Parsons.
