Zoe Lowdermilk-Oppenheim - Coming Out of The Fog
Pocko Social is proud to announce, Coming Out of the Fog, a forthcoming exhibition of Zoe Lowdermilk-Oppenheim to showcase the creative and visual communication designer’s debut publication and ongoing project under the same name.
Coming Out of the Fog documents the lives of eight women adopted from China and raised in the United Kingdom. Narrated from the adoptee perspective, the project consists of a series of portraits, interviews and archival photographs exploring the individual stories of these women.
Due to the One-Child Policy in place between 1980 to 2015, Coming Out of the Fog also interrogates the adoption journey within China, particularly for baby girls who have suffered a higher risk of abandonment due to societal pressures favouring sons over daughters.
Feeling an urge to investigate her own adoption experience which triggered the project, Zoe’s aim is to create a platform for Chinese/British adoptees to have their voices heard while creating a safe space for non-adoptees to learn without judgement. Started during her final year at London College of Fashion and in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Zoe’s solo exhibition with Pocko Social will feature photography alongside direct quotes from the subjects, wall maps and copies of the publication available to purchase at the gallery.
“The adoptive experience is a journey and has different stages. You can move along these stages until you feel that you’ve ‘come out’ of the fog. To progress through the stages, one must connect to the past, present, future, reach out to the adoptive community, have an open dialogue and challenge adoptive narratives.” – Zoe Lowdermilk-Oppenheim.
“The increase in racial attacks on the Asian community during Covid left her feeling “strangely and sadly connected to my Chinese community”. This feeling set her on a path to create an incredible, moving and beautiful body of work during her final year at London College of Fashion, from which she graduated this year. She began reading books about the Chinese adoption system and was struck by the fact that most of the available material out there was told from the perspective of the adoptive parents. “I wanted to create a platform for Chinese/British adoptees to have their voices heard,” she recalls.” – It’s Nice That
Zoe Lowdermilk-Oppenheim is a visual communication designer, born in China but based in London for almost all her life. Her practices include photography, creative direction, and design. Her passion is to use the power of visual communication to challenge conventional assumptions and help others to see the world differently. Zoe’s projects are based on her own multi-cultural upbringing and focus on the issues of social identity and sustainability, exploring the creative balance needed to generate progress in these fields.
Through Pocko Social, we aim to work with social issues in mind, using art and creativity to bring about positive change and support charities, foundations and institutions that are tackling social emergencies at hand.
