“To love and be loved was more than could ever be expected, more than enough for a thousand ordinary lifetimes.”
-All The Colors Of The Dark
Artist: Ellie Kayu Ng
“Gentlemen” To Love And Be Loved
All articles filed in Asian Art
“Kim Jiyoung Born 1982” By Cho Nam-Jo
This story takes places in South Korea, centering around Kim Jiyoung. A housewife who becomes possessed by the mutual deceased friend of the couple. Incredulous by his wife spewing private information only the dead knows her husband is freaked out, and missing his obedient, mostly docile partner. Made more perplexing by the memory lapse that follows. Kim Jiyoung doesn’t remember anything when taken over by the other spirit.
From there the book chronicles her life growing up in South Korea, from childhood into the present day. Flashing back to glimpses of mother’s life as well. The most influential person in shaping her. The reader gains an understanding of life as a woman in South Korea and it’s dismal. Decades of sexism favoring men, women having to give up their careers to raise children thanklessly, while having their role as a mother diminished, blamed for sexual harassment, and a job market that leaves them with scraps. No wonder Kim Jiyoung loses her sense of identity.
A must read. Dealing with themes of gender, sacrifice, family, motherhood, mysticism, sexuality and relationships. Kim Jiyoung Born 1982 is educational and emboldens my feminist beliefs. A world run by misogynistic, apathetic men, is a broken one. The cultural knowledge gave clarity to the actions of my Korean boss at Gammeeok. To him women aren’t valued and seen as a nuisance. Smashing the patriarchy globally is for the betterment of the world. Times up boys. Via: Amazon
“Nyx In Front Of A Mirror”
“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
“Yellowface” By R.F Kuang
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
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’
“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
The World Has Teeth
“…the world is a weird and wonderful place, but that doesn’t mean it’s not without it’s teeth. And it will bite you when you least expect it.”
Artist: Lea Woo Illustration
The Sign That A New Time Is Born
Will somebody wear me to the fair
Will a lady pin me in her hair
Will a child find me by a stream
Oooh, kiss my petals, weave me through a dream
For all of these simple things and much more
A flower was born
It blooms to spread love and joy, faith and hope
To people forlorn
Inside every man
Lives the seed of a flower
If he looks within he finds beauty and power
Ring all the bells, sing and tell the people everywhere that the flower has come
Light up the sky with your prayers of gladness and rejoice for the darkness is gone
Throw off your fears let your heart beat freely at the sign that a new time is born
Artist: Lea Woo Illustration