Name: All American Dragon/ Power of Community
Medium: Oil, Acrylic, Sumi Ink, and Basketball Hoop on Canvas
Year: 2024
Dimensions: 48 x 48 inches (H x W)
Art, for me, is an act of excavation, a way to uncover and confront the layers of the self.
As I reflect on my childhood watching English subbed over Cantonese Bruce Lee movies, eating tomato egg over rice after going of my father’s Sunday church choir n sermons. These fragments of experience became the foundation of my understanding of identity. I felt the most American consuming Kung Fu movies, eating my parent’s food, watching Jake Long and Danny Phantom, reading American Born Chinese comic books. That’s all I knew, in a place my parents never would imagine growing old in. All for the American Dream.
What does it mean to be “All-American”? It’s a question that intertwines cultural heritage with the performative demands of assimilation in the American landscape. For me, this tension is embodied in childhood icons who represent dual identities, balancing the pursuit of individual aspirations with the weight of collective cultural legacies. Bruce Lee, Jeremy Lin, and the vast number of the Asian Diaspora looking to establish themselves within the context of the American Dream. From being excluded and barred from entry to making it impossible to take your eyes off of them. They choose to stand up and stand out.
Within this struggle lies their resilience. There is strength and solidarity in shared cultural bonds, a reminder that identity is not just about navigating differences but also about celebrating the connections that sustain us.