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Open Flowers Bear Fruit
(Asian American Still Life, 2020–ongoing)

The Eurocentric tradition of still life has a long history of appropriating elements from cultures that it considered "exotic" while maintaining  authoritative artistic dominance on the practice. In response, Open Flowers Bear Fruit (Asian American Still Life) is an on-going project that claims space in this venerated tradition for Asian American cultural experiences, directly from an Asian American perspective. The project creates an overdue dialogue between the symbology of Eurocentric still life with that of Asian diaspora traditions.

On a personal level, the series features home comfort foods from my upbringing as a Taiwanese-Chinese American—foods that are derided as "strange" in the U.S. but hold quotidian significance in Chinese culture. At the same time, the series questions the ideals of the nostalgic "All-American" experience as a daughter of immigrants, asking to what extent immigrant experiences can dovetail with notions of Americanness. On a community level, I partner with Asian American small business owners throughout the series, foregrounding their food practices that make up the now multicultural culinary landscape that pervades California. These partnerships have allowed me to present perspectives and lived experiences from the numerous cultures that feed the otherwise monolithic label of "Asian American."

Read more about the project, press, and gallery views here.

All styling and photography by Stephanie Shih.

(For print availability, please contact me.)

Breughel's Breakfast.

2020, 20x24", archival pigment print on agave paper.

This work was inspired by Mayly Tao, second generation Cambodian American and purveyor of incredibly joyful rings of fried dough (via her family's donut shop, DK's Donuts & Bakery). I wanted to combine the exuberance of eating a donut with that of Brueghel's bursting florals, as an homage to cross-sensory experiences that make us happy.

Midautumn Memento Mori.

2020, 24x16", archival pigment print on agave paper.

The Midautumn Festival celebrates harvest, longevity, and friends and family. Created in the middle of 2020 and six months into quarantine, this piece examines the midautumn themes through the lens of a year marked by separation, loss, and grief. The folk history of mooncakes, gifted and eaten during the festival, notes their crucial role in overthrowing the Mongul occupation: may they continue to remind us of the power of grassroots protest.


Autumn in California.

2020, 10x12", archival pigment print on agave paper.

California autumn is a whirlwind of flavors. Brazilian passionfruit (with purple passiflora petals still attached, even) sit alongside cinnamon cap mushrooms in the same market.

Vase with Ten Bunflowers.

2021, 29x38", archival pigment print on agave paper

A collaboration with ceramicist Raina Lee, in which we bond over our love of Taiwanese pineapple buns and have a conversation with Van Gogh's Japanese woodblock print influences. Ceramic vase by Raina Lee; sunflowers from Tanaka Farms; pineapple bao from 85C Bakery (Los Angeles, CA).

An Auspicious Start to the Year of the Tiger.

2022, 30x40", archival pigment print on agave paper.

A celebration of lucky fruit, daily life, the new year, and a classic nature morte reminder of mortality. The mandarins are kishus, a varietal transplated to the US from Japan in the 1980s. The pomelo-looking citrus are oro blancos, which were bred in Southern California from a cross between pomelos (which have a long history in SE and E Asia for new years’ celebrations) and white grapefruit. The non-traditional oro blancos are here as a symbol of the continued development and remixing of Asian diaspora experiences.

倒吐葡萄皮 (Grape Skins).

2021, 16x24" and 28x42", archival pigment print on agave paper.

Dad's Favorite, Fall.

2020, 13x17", archival pigment print on agave paper.

Persimmons were my dad's favorite fruit, but one not so commonly seen in suburban American markets during my childhood. So my dad would order a giant box directly from a grower each year, and keep them in our unused brick chimney to eat over the course of several weeks.

Dad's Favorite, Summer.

2021, 16x24", archival pigment print on agave paper.

Watermelons were another of my dad's favorite fruits. After dinner during the summers, he would pull a giant watermelon out of the fridge and proceed to expertly carve it into cubes that were too large for anyone's mouth but his. My mom and I would watch him fill up the special watermelon tupperware bucket, while complaining vocally about the size of the cubes and cracking open spiced watermelon seeds, which my dad despised.

Money Matrix.

2022, looping video.

A homage to the home altars to ancestors or the gods that I grew up with, ubiquitous in nearly every house I visited with my parents, including our own. The altars always featured a neat pile of fruit and some variable combination of smiling black and white photos or uber-colorful Buddhist prints. On certain days, you might offer money or precious goods; on other days, you'd offer flowers—but always with the thorns meticulously cut off lest an ancestor cut their finger when they reached to accept the offerings. Ceramics by Eunbi Cho (Los Angeles, CA).

This piece was made as part of a commission for the Los Angeles Times.

Still Life with Ube.

2021, 24x30", archival pigment print on agave paper.

This work features treats from Ube Area, in San Francisco Bay Area. The team at Ube Area takes inspiration from all-American kids' treats like Pop Tarts and Rice Krispies and remixes them using classic Southeast Asian flavors like ube and calamansi lime.

Preservation/Perseveration.

2022, 50x40", archival pigment print on agave paper.

The flowers here were saved and dried from other pieces through the series for 2 years, and placed alongside persimmons scavenged from a neighborhood in Hollywood, hand-massaged hoshigaki, and a Terada family heirloom vase from imperial Japan. (vase courtesy of Andi Terada and family)

Pantry Exotics, 1.

2020, 24x16", archival pigment print on agave paper.

A too-familiar experience for Asian Americans is to have everyday items in their pantries exoticized and then used to ostracize: dried fish is considered "stinky", the black-fleshed century eggs are judged "gross" or "rubbery". But for those of us who grow up with these items, they represent the comforting familiarity of a part of our cultures.

Vanitas.

2021, 20x24", archival pigment print on agave paper.

A response to the still life vanitas tradition, this is a tableau of addictions--historical, contemporary, and perpetual--from poppies to (my personal vice) sugar.

Still Life with Armor.

2021, 24x16", archival pigment print on agave paper.

A still life for the hard shells we've grown to protect our sweet centers. Mace by Lucien Shapiro.

CATFISH.

2023, 30x30", archival pigment print on agave paper.

An ode to fishcake, Japanese oden, and Taiwanese tianbula (my favorite night market snack as a kid, and also which arose from Japanese occupation and the fish cake industry in Taiwan).

Ugly Duckling.

2021, 32x48" and 40x60", archival pigment print on agave paper.

A symbol of celebratory feasts in Chinese cuisines, a duck is judged most by the quality of its skin. This work features local LA staples: Cantonese roast duck from Sam Woo BBQ and peking duck from Moonhouse. Protector bone club by Lucien Shapiro.

Onggi with Six Kimchi.

2021, 16x20" and 24x30", archival pigment print on agave paper.

Pickled cabbage—and especially kimchi—is such a prominent part of Korean and East Asian cuisines, as well as an important export touchstone into new Asian American fusion (e.g., LA tacos!). This work is a Los Angeles-centric collaboration featuring onggi-inspired pots by ceramicist Eunbi Cho and handmade kimchi by Oliver Ko, Korilla Kimchi.

Spring (春). 

2021, 24x30", archival pigment print on agave paper.

A celebration of the ethereal softness of spring. This work features handmade mochi from Chikara Mochi, in Gardena.

In What Image of Man.

2022, looping gif and 30x40", archival pigment print on agave paper.

On the obsession with whiteness and the image of man in clay and beyond. A collaboration with ceramicist Raina Lee.

Flower Brick.

2021, 30x40", archival pigment print on agave paper.

Delftware in the Dutch tradition imitated Chinese pottery, often evoking scenes of East Asian life to decorate their ornate but curiously-shaped tulipiere vases (coinciding with tulipmania). One such shape was the rectangular flower brick, which subsequently fell out of popularity. Here, I rebuilt this particular style of tulipiere vase, brick by Lego brick.

Hansel&

2020, 10x13", archival pigment print on agave paper (part of diptych)

Part one of a duet celebrating the nostalgic, all-American Halloween candies of childhood.

&Gretel.

2020, 10x13", archival pigment print on agave paper (part of diptych)

Part two of a duet celebrating the nostalgic, all-American Halloween candies of childhood.

Eat Bittersweet.

2020, looping gif and 16x24", archival pigment print on agave paper.

The Chinese adage "to eat bitter" means that one must suffer through hard work and hardships in order to achieve and grow. While it's a notion that's often abused in "tiger parenting" culture, it is still useful as a reminder from time to time: except, my Chinese-American take on the phrase is to "eat bittersweet", remembering the sweet moments that exist alongside the struggles. This work features chocolates from Milla Chocolates, and candlestick by Lucien Shapiro.

(Epilogue) Kurisumasu Keki.

2020.

My take on the Japanese tradition of Christmas cake, in wreath form.

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