Community Engagement

Together,

we research, we investigate,

We write, we draw, we embroider, and we dance.

We share cultural memories and creating visual works that

collect and lift community voices to

support and bridge beyond the stereotypes.

We recognize that

we don’t have the experience of being Black, Latinx, Indigenous,

yet,

We all navigate similar waters.

We want to connect and empower

We want to make Oregon history

more comprehensive story for all of its people

We belong,

So do others

Zai yiqie Zhijian: In-between
Zai yiqie Zhijian: In-between is a multimedia installation reflecting women's past and present life.
We wonder what lives on and what disappears.
Like footprints in sand, in stone. Who will trace their memory for you?
Reflecting the places and people who have left their footprint on your heart.
Who will trace their memory for you?
The red thread weaving in the back space is done by invited guests, often each group of two people.
They have conversations about their shared memories while weaving thread in the space.
Artist also invited a group of Asian women for a weaving session.
They sat down to have tea and conversation about life experiences while mending shoes or personal items they bring with them.
Then closed the space up by weaving the red thread.

Patching

Patching the new and the old,

the west and the east,

the passionate and the reserved,

the communal and the individual.

The Passionate Red and The Glorious Gold

Human connections are fragile. They link then break, seal, then crack. Objects and their histories connect to the human interaction, then disconnect when they leave one space to another. I consider what has happened to them from the moment they are made to after they fall into my hands.
My story of origin connects to fabric, a domestic item. In this exhibition, I choose belly apron and golden thread because of my personal and cultural connection to them.

Thank you for the support from Regional Art & Culture Council and Oregon Community Foundation

Communication

The hidden weight of the rocks and belly aprons are the traditions and traditional upbringings. The correspondences are apparent. It is a new way of transformation and cultural shift, inside out.

Thank you for the support from Regional Art & Culture Council and Oregon Community Foundation

MOTHER AND I

Video by Liquid Reel Media @liquidreel.com

Expectation - Mixed media Installation, Public Engagement

Under the theme of Mixed Identity with a focus on Expectations, I depicted the two cultures, two identities, and many unmet expectations.

As an immigrant, my understanding of America is a cultural melting pot embracing freedom, differences, and equality. To build a community of inclusion, visualized memories reflect our thoughts on expectations, intergenerational communications, cultural conflict and amalgamation.

By having creative conversations with the artist and sharing memories with the community, one makes new memories from the past, using ordinary objects to create aesthetic and cultural values.

This was one of Portland Textile Month Exhibitions. It was installed at Portland State University Fariborz Maseeh Hall in October 2023

Making Time

An installation constructed based on one month of participatory engagements of childhood memory sharing and art making. 2 to 4 hours each session. Making the time to reflect on time and create new memories.
Objects that bring out the past were created at the present and continue adding on its value in the space to the future.

HOME

A five days installation performance

Audiences are invited to participate in making a thread art work in the space. For artist, it is to build connections through communication and art making, in order to find sense of belonging, as home. For audiences, it is to process one's own memories, experiences, and issues, thus to gain a better understanding of their own identities and idea about the home in their souls.