Hi, Mom.

Content note: This piece includes themes of parental loss and grief.

An autobiographical audio narrative presented as a series of voicemails left for a maternal figure who has passed away reveal a journey through gender transition, loss, and becoming one’s authentic self.

Shown at The New Frame Experience Design Festival in February 2025, this project is my final piece for the year long experience design program run by Odyssey Works. The participants are guided into a dark space and sit at a small softly lit table. In front of them is a recreation of where my mom used to sit at the kitchen table. They pick up her old cell phone and check the voicemail. When I started Odyssey Works I knew I wanted my final piece to somehow communicate the emotional, social, and physical experience of transition. I lost my mom just as I began my transition and never got to share any of my journey with her or ask for her advice. With “Hi, Mom.” I am hoping that coupling a universal experience like loss with the unique process of transition can help build understanding and empathy for the trans experience.

This piece is for people of any and all genders.

The Experience

The participant will be guided through a dark space, a softly glowing lamp illuminates a small table. There are some items on the table: a cell phone, an email print out, nail polish. Participants are guided to sit at the table and left alone. They pick up the cellphone, push a button, and begin listening to the voicemails.