Artist Statement
In my recent series, The Negotiation Table, I take hand-carved woodblocks and transform them into sites of negotiation, in response to the history of print’s indoctrination in the fine arts and in contrast to its uses in community activation. To assimilate into the fine arts, print needed to become artificially rare. It is best practice to destroy one’s plates to limit the edition. I have always been uncomfortable with destroying evidence of the labor to rarify the asset. I reflect on this tension in print, as a Taiwanese-Chinese American who has been made artificially rare in white dominant spaces. Via these installations, I reclaim the history of objects that fueled Europeans’ obsession with subduing Asia and that—in their search for a shorter route to Asia—they used to justify their westward expansion and colonization of Turtle Island. By creating a record, remembering becomes a key function in long-term justice.
Title: The Negotiation Table: Cycle | Breaking and Making Medium: hand-carved woodblocks embedded in reclaimed Chippendale table, woodblock prints on canvas, vermilion red wall paint Year: 2023 Dimensions: 30 x 13 ft Photo Credit: Khim Hipol