During the protests and encampments at UCLA in May and June of 2024, I felt horrified, disgusted, alone, unsupported, furious, and useless—the list goes on. I relied unconditionally on the support and bravery of my fellow students. Despite the mental trauma my peers and I endured, we refused to be silenced by the oppressive systems that attacked, shot at, and arrested us. Every single individual in this exhibition pushed themselves tirelessly as our world fell apart around us. While I, like many others, couldn’t fathom continuing as usual, we knew that we had to persevere—to speak up and fight back.
黑 was originally a piece commenting on colorism in Chinese culture. 黑 is still a piece that symbolizes my struggle with my skin color and cultural heritage. When I was younger, I would go back to China to visit family, where my other cousins would call me their “Black cousin” because of how tan my skin was. Prior to returning to China, I had never thought twice about the shade of my skin, or if there was any ulterior meaning behind it. All of a sudden I was self conscious about the way I looked, and the way others looked down at me. I didn’t learn about the connotations behind having darker skin in Chinese culture until I was much older.
To this day, I often get comments about the shade of my skin. Random strangers come up to me and ask me “what I am” because the shade of my skin confuses their preconceived notions of what I’m “supposed to look like” as a Chinese American. I’ve had to defend my cultural heritage while being pulled back and forth between two cultures, while being stuck in the middle of the existing Asian American diaspora- which only becomes magnified by colorist and classist notions within Chinese culture.
This tiered, three column headstone is surrounded by a row of incense sticks and candles, marking a symbolic passageway to the underworld. It is accompanied by a variety of offerings neatly laid around it. This headstone has been prepared for Qing Ming Jie, a traditional Chinese festival devoted to remembering and honoring the deceased. Notice how in this headstone, rather than an individual’s name, there is instead a line from one of the three great poets of the Tang Dynasty 白居易 (bái jū yì)- it reads: 肌肤冰雪莹 (jī fū bīng xuě yíng), which means, “her skin was as white and icy as snow”. In Chinese history, white or pale skin has been a cultural ideal ever since the Han Dynasty, representing wealth, affluence, and social prestige. An individual’s skin color represented the type of life they lived- white skin was associated with living a cosmopolitan life indoors, whereas darker skin was associated with physical labor and toiling outside.
Take a look at the dense arrangement of offerings surrounding the grave. These objects were believed, upon being burnt at the site of the grave, to pass onto the underworld for the deceased to use in their afterlife. You can see that in this gravesite, each and every single one of the offerings serves a part in whitening an individual’s skin color. For example, cups of rice water for purity or ads for skin whitening pills.
As you gaze at this piece, take note of the connections being drawn between Qing Ming Jie, one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture, and the societal ideal for having white skin. The artist chose to bring these two aspects of Chinese culture together to draw attention to the disproportionate level of expectation that modern Chinese society still places on having white skin. This gravesite places this beauty expectation at the same level of filial piety and ancestral respect, making it a cornerstone of Chinese culture, when in reality, the artist believes it is outdated and inconsequential. You’ll observe how, upon taking a closer look, this piece highlights the absurdity and unfairness of such superficial judgments in contemporary society.
Take a look at the dense arrangement of offerings surrounding the grave. These objects were believed, upon being burnt at the site of the grave, to pass onto the underworld for the deceased to use in their afterlife. You can see that in this gravesite, each and every single one of the offerings serves a part in whitening an individual’s skin color. For example, cups of rice water for purity or ads for skin whitening pills.
As you gaze at this piece, take note of the connections being drawn between Qing Ming Jie, one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture, and the societal ideal for having white skin. The artist chose to bring these two aspects of Chinese culture together to draw attention to the disproportionate level of expectation that modern Chinese society still places on having white skin. This gravesite places this beauty expectation at the same level of filial piety and ancestral respect, making it a cornerstone of Chinese culture, when in reality, the artist believes it is outdated and inconsequential. You’ll observe how, upon taking a closer look, this piece highlights the absurdity and unfairness of such superficial judgments in contemporary society.
