Outside Cultural Event 2: Irene Chan

Irene Chan is a Visual Arts and Asian Studies professor at UMBC. In the forum, she presented and explained the meaning behind her works of art, many of which related to the Asian-American identity. Discussing issues like the hyper-fetishization of Asian women, offensive Asian stereotypes, and the forgotten history of Asian Americans, there were many parts of the forum that were really emotionally provoking. I think I was really impacted because I could relate to her experiences as another second-generation Asian American woman. For example, Irene described her experience of a woman who came up to her as she tried on a bracelet, which was a comical shade of yellow, and exclaimed, “That’s amazing! It’s the EXACT SAME COLOR as your skin!"

   Irene laughed, ironically, as she described how this woman kept going on and on about how similar the color of her skin and the color of the paint were. This interaction prompted her to create Yellowskin Bracelet: a wearable work of art. Although the bracelet just looked like an arm warmer made of an alarmingly yellow strand of yarn, it was also her way of expressing and releasing the emotions she felt from the interaction. I found that a lot of her artwork was quite harsh to look at. From videos of her dressing in yellowface to pictures of her portraying American Anti-Asian propaganda by eating rats, there were some things that were hard for me to look at and process. 

    When Irene Chan was showing her final piece, The Thomas Project, which was a six-part multimedia work that highlighted the life of Thomas Sylvanus, a 19th-century Chinese-American who was enslaved in Baltimore, I felt particularly provoked. There was a Union soldier jacket, since Thomas had run away to fight for the Union Army, which had beautifully lettered slurs and microaggressions, all of which had been said to Thomas, embroidered across it. Some of the same exact words had been said to me and my family once when we were harassed in the streets when I was younger: an event I guess I have not completely gotten over. For Irene, creating art is her way of dealing with these experiences; for me, I am still finding my way. 

    Nonetheless, the event left me feeling heard and hopeful. The event brought up many feelings for me, however, I am very grateful for strong women like Irene who are brave and intelligent enough to process, craft, and then share their emotions and experiences.