Manda Villarreal

BFA in Art & Design

My Family Tree

The My Family Tree book series examines the labyrinth-like qualities of being a multiracial individual, and the identity related insecurities that come with it. To combat my feelings of “Racial Impostor Syndrome”, or the psychological pattern in which one doubts their own knowledge or cultural understanding of a race they are part of to the point of exclusion, I decided to examine and document my own genealogy in my thesis project. Through genealogical exploration, recollection, and documentation of my family’s past, I’m piecing together the longing questions I’ve had about my own racial identity and visualizing my findings in book form. The series presently consists of four books; each book subjects a different generation of my family line.

My Family Tree — 5 Generations.

My Family Tree: Book 1 — My sister and I.


My Family Tree: Book 2 — My parents.


My Family Tree: Book 3 — My maternal grandparents.


My Family Tree: Book 3 — My paternal grandparents.