Art and Design Commons^™

Sky Cubacub Interview, Spencer Nieto

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio: Rebirth Garments are designed and made by hand by Sky Cubacub. Sky is a non-binary queer and disabled Filipinx human from Chicago, IL with life long anxiety and panic disorders. Sky first dreamed of this collection while in high school and couldn’t find a place where they could buy a chest binder as a person who was under 18, and who didn't have access to a credit card to buy one online. Sky is especially interested in Rebirth Garments being accessible to queer and disabled youth and is working on creating a program for making free/reduced priced garments …

Kai Duc Luong Interview, Stuart Hutson

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio Born in 1975 in Phnom-Penh, KAI-DUC LUONG fled the oppressive Khmer Rouge regime from Cambodia to Vietnam to France, where his family settled in Paris, in 1978. KAI-DUC operates between Chicago and Paris. His artistic projects include video (art / doc / film), photography, and mixed media installations. His unconventional path as a self-taught outsider artist, trained in digital communication & systems engineering, gives him a unique perspective, at times questioning subject matters through the understanding of transmission and systems (e.g. the primary emotions, the five senses, the stages of grief, the art industry). His works have been …

Jennifer Tshab Her, Allison Bautista

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio: My work demonstrates and complicates the politics of displacement through my experience as a second-generation Hmong-American woman. As a nation-less ethnic minority from Southeast Asia, I fear cultural extinction. I create work that reveals the diaspora of the Hmong, questioning the roles of site and place, and instead looking in-between. My work engages political and cultural space through multidisciplinary practices such as embroidery, installation, and social practice. I use color as a dialogue–a tool for bringing attention to space, claiming space and recognizing how spaces are claimed. I interpret the question of ownership, whether land or body, through …

Mia Park Interview, Justin Fernandez

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Mia Park is a multidisciplinary artist acting, writing, playing music, producing events, teaching yoga, and volunteering in Chicago, IL. She shares her passion for discovery and self-inquiry with hope and optimism. Mia began professionally acting in 1997 hosting the cult favorite cable access dance show Chic-A-Go-Go. Her acting career has brought her on stage, in film, on television and on the radio. Mia currently plays the recurring character Nurse Beth Cole on NBC's Chicago Med. She has advocated for Asian American representation in acting since 2006 when she co-founded A-Squared Theatre and hosted educational theater workshops for the Chicago …

Soheila Azadi Interview, Jillian Bridgeman

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio: Soheila Azadi is an interdisciplinary visual artist and lecturer based in Chicago and Iran. Born in the capital of Islamic cities, Esfahan, Azadi absorbed story-telling skills through Persian miniature drawings since she was nine. Azadi’s inspirations come from her experiences of being a woman while living under Theocracy. Now residing in the U.S. Azadi is dedicated to transnational feminism with a passionate devotion to the ways in which race, religion, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity intersect. Azadi uses performance art and performative installations as methods to both materialize and narrate stories about women’s everyday struggle in the world. Her …

Tony Moy Interview, Sarah Song

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio:
Tony Moy is a mixed media artist who focuses on watercolor and Gouache living in downtown Chicago. He has published art in books from the X-files, Dungeons and Dragons, Tome I & II, Memory Collectors and among others. In addition, Tony has over 10 years of teaching experience and currently teaches illustration and design at the School of the Art Institute. His inspiration comes from studying traditional and classic watercolorists combined with the modern influences of pop culture comics, anime and fantasy. https://www.tonymoy.art/about-me

Wesley Sun Interview, Chad Novotny

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: BA, 2004, Stetson University, DeLand, Florida; M.Div, 2008, The University of Chicago. Both Wesley Sun and his brother (Brad Sun) were born and raised in Orlando, Florida, by their parents who are Chinese immigrants from Malaysia. Wesley serves as the Director of Field Education and Community Engagement at the University of Chicago Divinity School and is a volunteer chaplain at Cook County Jail. He also does creative writing for graphic novels that both he and his brother have collaborated on. His completed graphic novels include: Chinatown, Apocalypse Man, and Monkey Fist. Eisegesis: Kings + Queens is expected to be …

Jun-Jun Sta.Ana Interview, Jackson Hughlett

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Jun-Jun Sta.Ana is a self-taught multi-disciplinary artist born on September 19, 1963 to Remigio Benavidez Sta.Ana and Emma Cecilio Catral in Manila, Philippines. He moved to the United States at the age of 24, shortly after finishing a degree in Dentistry. He started his art career late just before he was turning 40- having a solo show of digital works using appropriated images from free porn sites which he deconstructed and embellished with images and symbols culled from Filipino talismans. His practice has become multi-disciplinary, and while still utilizing found images and materials, he also employs the technique of …

Kristine Aono Interview, Maureen Vela

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Kristine Aono is a sculptor and installation artist. She has a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. In addition, she has done residencies at the MacDowell Colony and the Virginia Center for the Arts.

She has received numerous grants from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts (Visual Artist/Public Project Grant), the Maryland State Arts Council, the Painted Bride, the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund, and the Prince George’s Arts Council. Kristine Aono has served on the Board of the Washington Project for the Arts, …

Joanne Aono Interview, Charlie Lacke

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Joanne Aono is a Japanese American Sansei artist, born in Chicago. She received a BFA from Drake University with post graduate classes through the SAIC.

Solo and two person exhibitions of her paintings and drawings include South Shore Arts, Images Gallery, Eyeporium Gallery, Dayton Street, and 303 Erie Artspace, with an upcoming solo show at the Lee Dulgar Gallery. Joanne has shown in numerous group exhibitions including Julius Caesar, Contemporary Art Workshop, Governor’s State University, Woman Made Gallery, Beverly Art Center, Northern Illinois University, and Art Chicago International. She has received City of Chicago Arts grants in addition to …

Willi Red Buhay Interview, Lauren Todd

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Willi Red Buhay was a graduate of San Beda College and the University of Sto. Tomas. He was the first artistic director for design of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Folk Arts Theater, a position he held for fifteen years. He also held a teaching post at the University of the Philippines and his alma mater.

One of Manila’s celebrated design-artist-painters, Willi had staged over 300 productions from theater and cinema to gallery exhibitions. In 1970, he won the prestigious design competition for the Philippine Center in New York. It was the start of numerous design …

George Suyeoka Interview, Bridget Pasapane

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Born in 1926 in Hawaii, George Suyeoko was raised in Hawaii and graduated from McKinley High School. He served in the U.S. Military Intelligence Service during WWII in Japan. In 1953, he graduated fro the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has been a fine art and commercial artist in Chicago ever since. He was married to the late Irene Suyeoka, a weaver, has two children, and lives in Evanston, IL.

Suyeoko’s exhibitions include: Chicago International New Art Forms Exposition; Folkworks Gallery of Evanston; Honolulu Academy of Fine Art Extension; Honolulu Gallery; Best pf show at SAN …

Lani Montreal Interview, Thi Navi Thach

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2010 interview with Filipina teacher, writer, performer Lani T. Montreal by Thi Navi Thach

Ann Poochareon Interview, Christina Yang

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2010 interview with new media artist Ann Poochareon by Christina Yang

Tatsu Aoki Interview, Brian Callahan

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2010 interview with musician Tatsu Aoki

Tina Ramirez Interview, Karina Lopez

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2010 interview with poet Tina Ramirez

Von Kommanivanh Interview, John Pluciennik

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2010 interview with Loatian born/Chicago based painter Von Kommanivahn by John Pluciennik

Rominna Villasenor Interview, Jamelle Apolinar

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2010 interview with writer, performer, visual artist Rominna Villasenor by Jamelle Apolinar

Jienan Yuan (Chien Yuan) Interview, Lauren Smith

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with record producer and composer Chien Yuan by Lauren Smith

Danny Pudi Interview, Shariq Jefferi

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with comedian Danny Pudi by Shariq Jefferi

Chris Naka Interview, Cheryl Franzen

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with new media and video artist Chris Naka by Cheryl Franzen

Vincent Chung Interview, Pete Koszulinski

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media's graphic designer Vincent Chung by Pete Koszulinski

Larry Lee Interview, Ami Shah

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with installation artist and curator Larry Lee by Ami Shah

Larry Lee website

View Larry's work in the AAOH project gallery

Vincent Pham Interview, Devin Meyer

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with Vincent Pham a Doctoral Student at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and co-author of Asian Americans and the Media (Polity, 2008).

Gordon Cc Liao Interview, Elise Osenbaugh

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with poet Gordon CC Liao