Artist' Statement
Our Life As Americans: History and Chinese Women
Sweat, tears, struggles, and dreams are the untold story of Chinese immigrant women who, for 150 years, endured and overcame immeasurable hardship. As a Chinese immigrant woman myself, I hope to depict, record, and preserve this part of American history through my paintings.
Through my research I discovered many stories that are little-known but fascinating, a dark but inspiring chapter of the American story and American Dream. In my painting “Angel Island “, early immigrants from China faced detention and questioning. We can see the remains of hundreds of home-sick poems written on wooden walls. I used a cooler color palette to underline the mood of hopelessness. Once in Chinatown, many women and young girls faced a life of prostitution or indentured servitude. Donaldina Cameron, a Presbyterian Missionary, opened a woman's shelter that helped to rescue 3,000 of these women. In “Cameron House,” I used the contrast of light and dark to illustrate the dynamic movement of the composition. I try to evoke a state of a conflict of good versus evil, life and death struggle, and order out of chaos, etc. In “Fishing Village in Monterey” I adopted some elements of Venetian painting: brilliant color, painterly texture of brushstroke, light and color, as well as an Arcadian landscape: themes of pleasure, playfulness, and idealism.
The stories continue. Hard working woman raising their children while working in the “sweatshops” making the uniforms for the military to support America's war effort. A young woman who has just gotten married to a Chinese American pilot who will forever be known as a “War Bride”. Few Americans today know the history and the conditions of early Chinese women immigrants. I was inspired by the paths these women traveled, the fascinating lives they led, as well as the humanity they embodied.
Our Life As Americans: History and Chinese Women
Sweat, tears, struggles, and dreams are the untold story of Chinese immigrant women who, for 150 years, endured and overcame immeasurable hardship. As a Chinese immigrant woman myself, I hope to depict, record, and preserve this part of American history through my paintings.
Through my research I discovered many stories that are little-known but fascinating, a dark but inspiring chapter of the American story and American Dream. In my painting “Angel Island “, early immigrants from China faced detention and questioning. We can see the remains of hundreds of home-sick poems written on wooden walls. I used a cooler color palette to underline the mood of hopelessness. Once in Chinatown, many women and young girls faced a life of prostitution or indentured servitude. Donaldina Cameron, a Presbyterian Missionary, opened a woman's shelter that helped to rescue 3,000 of these women. In “Cameron House,” I used the contrast of light and dark to illustrate the dynamic movement of the composition. I try to evoke a state of a conflict of good versus evil, life and death struggle, and order out of chaos, etc. In “Fishing Village in Monterey” I adopted some elements of Venetian painting: brilliant color, painterly texture of brushstroke, light and color, as well as an Arcadian landscape: themes of pleasure, playfulness, and idealism.
The stories continue. Hard working woman raising their children while working in the “sweatshops” making the uniforms for the military to support America's war effort. A young woman who has just gotten married to a Chinese American pilot who will forever be known as a “War Bride”. Few Americans today know the history and the conditions of early Chinese women immigrants. I was inspired by the paths these women traveled, the fascinating lives they led, as well as the humanity they embodied.