Asian American Studies Commons^™

Layered Histories, Interpretive Desires, Rachelle Dang

Theses and Dissertations

I aim to excavate source material from the past and reinterpret its significance in the present through art. I merge history with the contemporary through acts of appropriation and material exploration, creating conditions for the viewer to grapple with colonial legacies in an affective space of visual experience.

How To Be The Perfect Asian Wife!, Sophia Hill

Art and Art History Honors Projects

“How to be the Perfect Asian Wife” critiques exploitative power systems that assault female bodies of color in intersectional ways. This work explores strategies of healing and resistance through inserting one’s own narrative of flourishing rather than surviving, while reflecting violent realities. Three large drawings mimic pervasive advertisement language and presentation reflecting the oppressive strategies used to contain women of color. Created with charcoal, watercolor, and ink, these 'advertisements' contrast with an interactive rice bag filled with comics of my everyday experiences. These documentations compel viewers to reflect on their own participation in systems of power.

Invisible Invisibility, Eugina Song

Theses and Dissertations

White America assumes its culture is the default, and Asian culture as foreign and irrelevant. I address Asian invisibility by using canvas structure as a Western framing device of painting, and make this cultural barrier visible by breaking out of the frame. Deriving from Dansaekhwa, I challenge the Western painting structure with materiality.

Tipping Point, Pang Z. Vang

Theses and Dissertations

What happens to a woman at the tipping point under oppression in a patriarchal society? How does she behave? Pulling from the vagina dentata mythologies, and personal and collective experiences of rape culture, I formed a body of work which problematize the stereotypical narrative of victim/perpetrator. As a visual and conceptual exploration, my work explores the themes of desire, agency/non-agency, and violence [as it manifests within and outside of the body]. Utilizing visual and conceptual quotations from film, pornography and sex toys, these works subvert the exoticized stereotype of the Asian woman as sexual plaything.

Patricia Nguyen Interview, Joyce Shoults

Asian American Art Oral History Project

BIO: Patricia Nguyen is an artist, educator, and scholar born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Performance Studies at Northwestern University and a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow for New Americans. Her research and performance work examines critical refugee studies, political economy, forced migration, oral histories, inherited trauma, torture, and nation building in the United States and Vietnam. She has published work in Women Studies Quarterly, Harvard Kennedy School's Asian American Policy Review, and The Methuen Drama Anthology of Modern Asian Plays edited by Siyuan Liu and Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr. Patricia is currently …

Jon Yamashiro Interview, Ciera Stokes

Asian American Art Oral History Project

BIO: Jon Masuo Yamashiro was born the oldest son and raised as a third-generation Okinawan American in the “cultural pastiche” of Honolulu, HI. He traveled from the islands to study at Washington University in St. Louis and received his BFA in 1985, then went on to earn an MFA in photography from Indiana University in 1991. Since the fall of 1993, he has had the privilege of teaching photography to college students at Miami University. Jon lives in Liberty, Indiana, with his wife Jennifer and their daughter Lydia and son Luke. http://yamashirophoto.com/

Matthew Avignone Interview, Alicia Urquizo

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Matthew Avignone is a Korean-American photographer born in 1987. In 2011, he obtained his B.A. in photography from Columbia College, Chicago. He has been exhibited at the Aperture Foundation, the Pingyao Photography Festival (China), and the Camden Image Gallery (London), among others. His first artist book, An Unfinished Body (2011), is part of the collections of the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film and the International Center for Photography. In October 2014, after working for five years on documenting his own family, he released his self-published book, Stranger Than Family. The story of this project, …

Renluka Maharaj Interview, Steven Zych

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Renluka Maharaj grew up in the country of Trinidad and Tobago and moved to New York as a child where spent most of her life. Her Eastern and Western background wrapped with modern sensibilities is evident in her bodies of work. Her interests are centered on gender roles, sexuality, colonialism, mythology, iconography and fetishism. Some of the artists that have influenced her work are Yinka Shonibare and Yasumasa Morimura.

Ms. Maharaj completed her BFA at the University of Colorado Boulder and is currently completing her MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she received the …

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 …

Raeleen Kao Interview, Beena Patel

Asian American Art Oral History Project

BIO: Raeleen Kao is a drawer, printmaker, and amateur competitive eater aka glutton residing in Chicago with a Charles Brand etching press, a red tabby, and forty plants.

Her prints and drawings have been exhibited in museums and galleries across the country most notably at the International Museum of Surgical Science, the Monmouth Museum of Art, Bert Green Fine Art, the Smith College Museum of Art, Tory Folliard Gallery, Firecat Projects, and Normal Editions Workshop. Her work has been represented at SELECT Fair New York, the Editions and Artist Books Fair in New York, the Cleveland Fine Print Fair, the …

Michio Iwao Interview, Grace Johnson

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Michio Iwao is one of four sons of the parents Kotama and Tomonosuke Iwao. He is known as an Asian American craftsperson that was born on July 12, 1922 in Suisun City, California. During World War II Michio and his family were relocated and held at the Gila River Internment Camp also known as Trulock. This stay lasted from 1942 to 1945 under the War Relocation Authority. This Japanese Internment camp inspired Iwao to spend his idle time learning how to make bird pins. This was the start of Iwao becoming a craftsperson.

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, …

Kevin J. Miyazaki Interview, Anthony Santoro

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Kevin J. Miyazaki is an artist and photographer born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Japanese American parents originally from Hawai‘i and Washington state. His artwork often focuses on issues of ethnicity, family history and memory. The incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II is of particular interest to Miyazaki, whose father spent time at both Tule Lake and Heart Mountain camps. His work has been exhibited in a variety of locations, including The Center for Photography at Woodstock (New York), The Haggerty Museum of Art (Milwaukee) The Rayko Photo Center (San Francisco) and Photographic Center Northwest (Seattle). …

Sameena Mustafa Interview, Uyanga Chinzorig

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Sameena Mustafa is a stand-up comedian, actor, and writer named in the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago 2016 issue. She has been featured in videos by The Onion and performed on world-famous stages like the Laugh Factory and Biograph Theater. A Northwestern University graduate, Sameena is a sought-after speaker and host, praised for founding Simmer Brown, a comedy showcase featured in the Chicago Sun-Times and Redeye Chicago.

Pipo Nguyen-Duy Interview, Emily Flanagan

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio:

Pipo Nguyen-duy was born in Hue, Vietnam. Growing up within thirty kilometers of the demilitarized zone of the 18th Parallel, he describes hearing gunfire every day of his early life He immigrated to the United States as a political refugee.

Pipo has taken on many things in life in pursuit of his diverse interests. As a teenager in Vietnam, he competed as a national athlete in table tennis. He also spent some time living as a Buddhist monk in Northern India. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics at Carleton College. He then moved to New …

Kompha Seth Interview About The Cambodian Association Of Illinois, Matthew Mrozinski

Asian American Art Oral History Project

About the Organization:

“Founded in 1976, the Cambodian Association of Illinois (CAI) serves some 5,000 Cambodians in Illinois via senior health intervention; child and youth services; family health, citizenship and employment. CAI enables refugees and immigrants from Cambodia residing in Illinois, especially those in metropolitan Chicago, to become self-sufficient, productive participants in American society while preserving and enhancing their cultural heritage and community.”

About the co-Founder:

“Kompha Seth, co-Founder and Executive Director of CAI since 1981. He was a Buddhist monk in Cambodia for 23 years before emigrating to the U.S. in 1975. He has received numerous national, state and …

Pao Hoau Her Interview, Bentley "Libby" Christenson

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio: Pao Houa Her is a visual artist base in Minnesota. She studied at Minneapolis College of Art and Design and at Yale University School of Art. She can be reached at [email protected]. Bio from- http://phphoto.nfshost.com/?page_id=33

Pao Houa Her was born in Laos. In 1986 after the Vietnam War ended, Pao and her family moved to Thailand and a year later moved to Minnesota. Pao is the oldest of seven and currently resides in Minneapolis, MN. She has received a B.F.A. in photography at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and was the first Hmong individual …

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 …

Mapping Community Mindscapes: Visualizing Social Autobiography As Political Transformation And Mobilization, Emily C. Bluck

Scripps Senior Theses

Historically, autobiography has been used to perpetuate neo-liberal ideologies. Yet, when autobiography becomes social and is used to engage political communities of color, political transformation is possible. This project, through the collaborative visualization of Asian American social biography using pedagogical and relational methods as a means for engagement, seeks to destabilize dominant notions of time and space, and provide a mechanism for the retention of and documentation of institutional, and social histories using the Asian American Student Union at Scripps College as the site for political praxis.

Erbu Interview, Xiayla Sisson

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio: Erbu is a Filipino artist born Wivinne “Eve” Red Buhay in Manila on March 1, 1955. Erbu is the 3^rd child of Nilo Buhay and Delia Red. Erbu was born into art, with her immediate family being very creative and well distinguished artists in their own right. Erbu’s style is unlike anyone else, she delves into the emotional and comfortable aspects of life giving her art a very home like quality.

For more information visit: http://erbu55.com/

Marlon Unas Esugerra Interview, Gis George

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Marlon Unas Esguerra is a second generation Filipino American, born and raised in Chicago. Marlon currently resides in Woodside, Queens, and is a Special Ed teacher at Queens Vocational & Technical High School.

In 1998, he co-founded the panAsian spoken word ensemble, I Was Born with Two Tongues/, which has since performed in over 300 colleges and venues across the country. The Tongues' pioneering performance work and critically-acclaimed debut CD, "Broken Speak" (AsianImprov Records), sparked a new generation of APIA voices. He is also the co-founder of the Asian American Artists Collective-Chicago, YAWP! Young Asians …

Mukul Roy Interview, Emily Ellert

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: [by Emily Ellert] Mukul Roy was born in Udupi, India where she was raised by her mother and father [the artist declined to specify what year she was born]. She began college there and finished her first two years, called intermediary. Then she moved to Calcutta with her family and continued studying literature there. During her time in Calcutta, there were various sociopolitical movements occurring and it resulted in a lot of violence and bombings. She met her husband in Calcutta, and in 1966 they moved to England where he was continuing his studies to be a …

Agnes Chou Interview, Frankie Lacoste

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Agnes Chou, also known as Jua-Ling Chou, is an artist of the Lingnan style of Chinese painting. Agnes began her work at the age of seventy when she began taking classes from Andy Chan. Her work is primarily composed of botanical arrangements in water color on rice paper. Agnes Chou is now eighty-one years old having participated in an international exhibition eight years ago in Japan where her work can now be found in the Murphy Hill gallery. She now uses painting as a hobby and teaches at Oakton Community college.

Regin Igloria Interview, Julie Hernanadez

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio: Born 1974 Manila, Philippines. Lives and works in Chicago, IL. Regin Igloria maintains a studio practice which revolves around teaching and serving as an arts administrator. He teaches studio courses at Marwen, a nonprofit youth arts organization, where he has also served as program and exhibitions coordinator. An alumnus of the program, he helped establish their Alumni Advisory Board and served as its co-chair, run their Alumni Gallery, and served as a teaching artist for many of their study trips to New York City, Boston, and Maine. He has also taught for the children's program at Anderson Ranch …

Jonathan Laxamana Interview, Kevin Galanto

Asian American Art Oral History Project

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Bio: Jonathan Laxamana is the Program Director for the Chicago Filipino American Film Festival. To learn more about CFAAF visit: www.cfaff.org

Prem Sharma Interview, Ester Lee

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio [by Ester Lee]: As a co-founder of Apna Ghar, Inc. (Our Home) a shelter for surviving women and children of domestic violence was founded in 1989, Prem Sharma also helped create the Club of Indian Women and the Indo-Crisis Line prior to this. Since moving to Chicago in 1972, Ms. Sharma has been actively involved with various South Asian organizations such as Chitrahar (South Asian television show), India Tribune, The Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, the Association of Indians in America, and the Indian Medical Association. An accomplished self-taught artist, Ms. Sharma has supported the arts and …

Ruyell Ho Interview, Sarah Bonner

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio: BFA School of the Art Institute of Chicago; BA University of California, Berkeley. Has had a 45 year career in art making. Was appointed to the grant review panel of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs for six years. Former professor of painting and lecturer at Bradley University, Peoria, IL. Exhibits nationally and internationally.

Johannah Silva Interview, Mal Warning

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio & Statement:

Johannah Silva is a Chicago-based artist. She received her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1999 and currently teaches full-time at Wright College.

In the last few years, I have been making work using the circular shape/form as a starting point for my paintings and drawings. The circles allude to micro as well as macro forms, -- cells and atoms as well as planetary bodies, for example. My working process involves the repetition and placement of these shapes and marks on the painting surface, in consideration with formal elements such as …

Andy Chan Interview, David Escobedo

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: [by David Escobedo] Andy Chan is a Chinese immigrant that does a new style of Chinese traditional painting. His art career began in Hong Kong where he attended the Lingnan School and learned the Lingnan style of Chinese painting. Andy Chan is a well-known and established artist in his community in Chinatown Chicago. His art is beautifully done in composition and rendering. Andy is currently facing struggles with his health, which imposes on his ability to create large works and plans to make large art shows.