Asian American Archives

“Nyx In Front Of A Mirror”

By: Saint Twenty September 8, 2025September 8, 2025

Saint MuseArt, Asian American, Asian Art, Books, Feminism, Japanese Artist, Nyx In Front Of A Mirror, On Beauty, Shuto Okayasu, Zadie SmithLeave a Comment

“As Dr. Byford explained, she was really the victim of a vicious, peculiarly female psychological disorder: she felt on thing and did another. She was a stranger to herself.

And were they still like that, she wondered- these new girls, this new generation? Did they still feel one thing and do another? Did they still only want to be wanted? Were they still objects of desire instead of- as Howard put it- desiring subjects? Thinking of the girls sat cross-legged with her in this basement, of Zora in front of her, of the angry girls who shouted their poetry from the stage- no, she could see no serious change. Still starving themselves, still reading women’s magazines that explicitly hate women, still cutting themselves with little knives in places they think can’t be seen, still faking their orgasms with men they dislike, still lying to everybody about everything.”

-On Beauty

Artist: Shuto Okayasu

Bretman Rock For Allure Philippines

By: Saint Twenty July 22, 2025July 22, 2025

Saint StyleAllure Magazine, Asian American, Bretman Rock, Filipino, Gammeeok, Heart Evangelista, Philippines, Rat SoupLeave a Comment

No idea who Heart Evangelista is, but I wanted to sure how major Bretman Rock looks. Eyebrows, hair, makeup, just gorgeous. I will never forget their support when I fought on the behalf of Asian people (read Bretman Rock Did Me A Favor). I’m loyal to those loyal to me. With each passing day I’m in awe regarding their bravery, supporting me during Rat Soup. While others are cowards who yield, calling themselves men, but have the audacity to berate people like them. It’s a joke. Bretman Rock has my protection and understanding, since this was done years ago. First come, first serve. Fortune favors the bold. Work bitch. Via: Allure Magazine

“Yellowface” By R.F Kuang

By: Saint Twenty July 13, 2025July 13, 2025

Saint KnowAsian American, Asian Art, Books, China, Kardashian Jenner West, NPR, R.F Kuang, YellowfaceLeave a Comment

When Athena Lieu, an effortlessly talented young writer passes away after a night of celebration, June Hayward is there as witness. Failing to get any of her own work published, Hayward immediately seizes this opportunity to sift through Lieu’s belongings. She finds a manuscript Athena covertly completed. A novel about World War 1’s Chinese laborers. Barely grieving, envious frenemy June Hayward steals the book as her own, making edits that lean towards white saviors. Desperate for notoriety June changes her last name to Song, to appear as though she has Chinese ancestry and skyrockets to literary It girl. Until the walls start closing in. Once the connection between Athena & June is revealed publicly, Asian Americans start questioning her. Who really wrote this and where in Juniper Song’s lineage is she Chinese?

Loved this novel. It deals with themes of identity, artistic license and racism. Jury’s still out on whether I inspired R.F Kuang with my constant complaints about being copied by trashy, insipid, talentless inbreds the Kardashian Jenner’s & co, but it struck a massive chord. Having the book narrated by a world class Karen who not only steals someone else’s work, but appropriates their culture, because they don’t have what it takes to make it own their own, is chef’s kiss. Allowing readers to see just how deranged these people are and the lengths they go through to justify their immoral actions. Any flack this novel has received is white fragility based. Making Caucasian readers uncomfortable with their problematic behavior. Face it and fix it. Via: NPR

‘Self-Portraits’ By Jun Ahn

By: Saint Twenty May 26, 2025May 26, 2025

Saint MuseArt, Artsy, Asian American, Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Asian Art, Jun Ahn, New York, Photography, Self Portrait, South KoreaLeave a Comment

Anyone can relate to these self-portraits where artist Jun Ahn straddles the ledges of buildings, surrounded by New York City’s grandiose architecture. These photos remind me of the in-between, the edge, the brink of failure or success, life and death. Also the high expectations placed on the Asian community as the “model minority.” With a stigma surrounding mental health, many choose to end their lives over seeking help due to the pressure of success.

”My Self Portrait is a kind of performance without an audience, only to be photographed since it is a portrait of my desire rather than the reality. There is a day I recall from my teenage years. I was sitting on the edge of the window in my apartment in New York, looking over the cityscape. I was thinking about how my youth was coming to end, being unable to figure out my future. I looked down and saw the empty space, the void. There was a sudden change in my perspective on life and death, of present and future…I felt the illusion of beautiful buildings was like the future or the unreachable ideals that still surround us somehow. The empty space was the present for me.”

Ahn never revealing her face allows viewers to insert themselves as the person on the ledge. For me it creates a greater sense of empathy and introspection. The juxtaposition of being surrounded by the hustle and bustle of NYC, where millions of people are piled on top of each other, versus the intimacy of isolation when having this internal conflict regarding what you’re going to do with your life, is perfectly captured. How are you going to fill that empty space? What path are you going to choose? Why? Via: Artsy

‘The Holy Temple’

By: Saint Twenty March 7, 2025March 7, 2025

Saint MuseArt, Asian American, Asian Art, Asian Artists, Books, Jessica George, Maame, Viet Ha Tran, Vietnamese ArtistLeave a Comment

“You’re Christian, Shu. Do you always believe in God?’
“Yeah, course. Got to.’
“Why?’
”Because,’ she says, ‘I can’t carry on living believing human beings are as good as it gets.’ She looks at me, “We’re the worst.”

-Maame

Artist: Viet Ha Tran

Becoming A Shade Too Yellow

By: Saint Twenty June 23, 2021June 23, 2021

Saint MuseAsian American, Asian Artists, Asian Reads, Becoming A Shade Too Yellow, Celete Ng, Chinese American, Everything I Never Told You, Hi Sue YunLeave a Comment

He had never felt he belonged here, even though he’d been born on American soil, even though he had never set foot anywhere else. His father had come to California under a false name, pretending to be the son of a neighbor who had emigrated there some years earlier. America was a melting pot, but Congress, terrified that the molten mixture was becoming a shade too yellow, had banned all immigrants from China. Only the children of those already in the States could enter. So James’s father had taken the name of his neighbor’s son, who had drowned in the river the year before, and come to join his “father” in San Francisco. It was the story of nearly every Chinese immigrant from the time of Chester A. Arthur to the end of the Second World War. While the Irish and the Germans and the Swedes crowded onto steamship decks, waving as the pale green torch of the Statue of Liberty came into view, the coolies had to find other means to reach the land where all men were created equal.

Artist: Hi Sue Yun