They are raising a toddler named Theo 邱榮本.
Clare is a visual artist whose recent projects explore and unpack the challenges faced by parents—in particular women of colour, artist-parents—in a neoliberal society. Her studio is located in Vancouver’s Chinatown where she grows her art practice independently while freelancing on design and communications projects. United Aunties is an extension of Clare’s community-engaged practice.
Leo is a marketing specialist with extensive experience working in the social-change sector and hospitality industry. He is passionate about collaborating on community projects, and watching them take root, from a concept to fruition. Leo is interested in building a stronger co-op and labour movement in the province.
“We urgently need to bring to our communities the limitless capacity to love, serve, and create for and with each other. We urgently need to bring the neighbor back into our hoods, not only in our inner cities but also in our suburbs, our gated communities, on Main Street and Wall Street, and on Ivy League campuses.”
—Grace Lee Boggs, The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century, p. 47
Chinatown is a community Clare and Leo are grateful and heartened to be a part of. They felt the need for connection more than ever while living in a small studio apartment during a global pandemic. Through it all, they pay tribute to all the kind and badass folks who embody the auntie spirit, especially those who have been so supportive of Theo during difficult times.
United Aunties is a love letter to all the aunties in their lives.
