Eye Test
This particular work derived from the artist's experience in New Zealand in the 90s- how she was judged primarily by her 'strange' name and 'colour' by New Zealanders. The fact that she was a New Zealand citizen was perhaps the last thing that people recognized, as Asian immigrants were relatively rare back in those days. This was a source of pain and disappointment for the artist who was young and faced various degrees of racial discrimination.
The artist has since matured and New Zealand has become more multicultural. These days, immigration and inter-marriages have become more common. However, there are still pockets of society who see people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds with fear and hatred. The recent Christchurch terror attack is a sad example.
Through this work, the artist is questioning how we react when we encounter something unknown or unfamiliar. Look around you. What do you see?
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Eye Test / 2019 / Screenprint on Paper / 29.7 x 21 cm / Edition of 20
Yellow
In the globalized climate of the 21st century, many people experience the displacement and cultural exchange that comes from moving to other countries to live and work. However being different and being a minority still makes a person liable to be a target of racial discrimination. An individual is often judged based on their skin color regardless of knowledge, age, status, religion or personality. And sometimes, it is almost impossible to overcome prejudice as an individual despite one’s effort.
This work gives viewers 2 different visual experiences depending on the angle of viewpoint. From certain angles, you can only see the word 'yellow' because it is the only word with color against the white background. But from a different angle, suddenly the sea of 'white' words dominates the vision, hence the distinctively noticeable word 'yellow' is less visible and becomes more acceptable and tolerable.
Based on my 15 years of experience of being an Asian woman in Caucasian-dominated New Zealand society, it describes what it is like to be a legitimate citizen yet a permanent outsider and how things can look different depending on one's angle of view.
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Yellow / 2015 / Screenprint on Paper / 103 x 70 cm / Edition of 5
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Yellow / 2015 / Screenprint on Paper / 103 x 70 cm / Edition of 5