APIDA Student Art Exhibit curated by Isabel Lu

The UNC Asian American Center (AAC) and Arts Everywhere is pleased to present an arts exhibition exploring the experiences of Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) students during these past two years related to the Arts Everywhere Day theme of “Grounded Growth”.

Join us at AAC ( 215 W. Cameron Ave.) from 10am-3pm on April 8th to celebrate the creative works of 15 undergraduate and graduate students. Curated by graduate student Isabel Lu, works include paintings, photography, film and dance, and written pieces that unpack how students’ identities and experiences have been shaped by the events and world around us. The exhibit will be on display at AAC through the month of April.

To learn more about the participating artists and their pieces, scroll through or click on an artist name below.

Alex Ng, “Quynh”

"Quynh" by Alex Ng - newspaper collaging around a woman's face
“Quynh” by Alex Ng

About Alex

  • Degree/year: Environmental Sciences and Engineering PhD Program, 1st year
  • Pronouns: She/her/hers
  • Learn more about Alex 

Tell us about your artistic journey

I grew up going to art museums and shared my parent’s passion for the arts. I was always drawn to impressionism, surrealism, and modern art which is incorporated in my piece. I have always used art to express myself but it has always been a very personal journey for me. This is the first time that I am sharing my art on a larger platform.

Tell us a little bit about the project/piece. 

This mixed-media collage is dedicated to my grandma and mom. It is a visual timeline of their lives from my perspective as strong, confident, and unconventional Asian women in America, breaking stereotypes while also staying connected with their roots. I was fortunate to have strong female role models. Their courageous fight against racism and sexism has strongly influenced my own life. I am dedicated to continuing their work: professionally, as a woman in STEM, and recreationally, as a mentor in rock climbing.

The piece included news articles documenting their dangerous escape from the Vietnam war and photographs to represent the generational differences between me, my mom, and my grandma. The leadership and resilience that my grandma and mom have displayed throughout my life have shown me that I can continue to fight against the racism, sexism, and objectification of Asian women.

What was your inspiration?

 I was inspired by my mom and grandma. Seeing the similarities and differences between each of our experiences as Asian women in America has been an insightful journey for me and I am proud to share how they have impacted my life.

The theme “Grounded Growth” is meant to represent the growth that the past two years have warranted for everyone. We wanted to take this year and this day to discuss, reflect on, and celebrate how the arts have supported us through these periods of growth and how they can continue for the future. What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

 To me, grounded growth represents the ever changing narratives that surround our lives. This piece reflects my personal experiences as an Asian woman and how my perspective has grown, especially in the past 2 years. Last year, I had a difficult conversation with close friends of mine who had referred to Asian women as “fetishes” and “yellow fever” as “disgusting”. Hurt, confused, and exhausted by the stereotypes I still had to confront, I talked with my mom and grandma. They shared her similar experiences. Two days later, 8 Asian women were killed in the Atlanta spa shooting. The racism and sexism that I had experienced my whole life was projected onto mainstream media. The quick succession of these emotionally charged events lead me to deeply reflect on my experiences and continue the conversations that were started by the devastating event. Art is a therapeutic way to express complex experiences that can’t be put in words.

Cynthia Liu, “Bodies of Water”

Read Bodies of Water by Cynthia Liu.

About Cynthia

Tell us about your artistic journey

Writing has always been something that comforted and grounded me. Ever since I was little, I would write stories, imagined or lived, in the 5-subject notebooks or Hello Kitty notepads that doubled as my journals. It wasn’t until I took a few creative writing classes at UNC that the scope of writing changed for me entirely–it became something collaborative, a conversation of sorts, something that could be a form of community as much as it was sometimes a refuge from the outer world. Writing has given me a way to listen to myself while also being a part of something larger – I think every story or poem or iphone notes manifesto I’ve read by other people has become a part of my writing and my life, whether it’s a classmate in a fiction class or a celebrated poet whose words I keep by my nightstand.

Tell us a little bit about the project/piece.

This short fiction piece tells the story of An-hai, a second-gen Chinese-American, as he grapples with the loss of his mother in early childhood and the resulting turmoil in the years to follow. Set in the early 2000s, the story parallels the motif of drowning to the oftentimes overwhelming sensations of grief, guilt, and displacement, especially as part of the Asian-American diaspora in America.

What was your inspiration?

I’ve always been curious about how grief and other strong emotions manifest in us physically, and how natural elements can mirror this delicacy and turmoil we feel of our inner states. The motif of drowning sort of became the guiding principle for the story. Similarly, I feel like there are moments or traumas in all of our lives that stick with us longer than we intended or have control over. While the parameters of the story are different than events I’ve actually experienced, I think many of my own emotional experiences informed the characters’ inner states, and was also something I wanted to explore in a more open-ended scenario.

The theme “Grounded Growth” is meant to represent the growth that the past two years have warranted for everyone. We wanted to take this year and this day to discuss, reflect on, and celebrate how the arts have supported us through these periods of growth and how they can continue for the future. What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

To me, grounded growth means growth that stems from a connection to and honoring of our roots. While “roots” is often used in a cultural context, to connect back to our ancestors and “where we came from” for many Asian-Americans and other cultural diaspora, I also like to think of it in terms of how we anchor ourselves, both intrinsically and within our close communities. In other words, I think many of us have experienced feelings of both displacement and stagnation in these past few years, as though you are both stuck and lost at the same time. To be grounded, then, means to find connection (whether it’s to ourselves or others); to be tethered to our lives, the people we love, and the things that matter to us. In my story “Bodies of Water,” the main character An-hai experiences these feelings of displacement to the extreme–oftentimes disassociating as he struggles to process the trauma of losing his mother and other losses, feeling literally as though he is floating underwater or else somewhere physically far away from those around him. The solution, then, as simple as it sounds, is to find the things that keep us in the world and keep us wanting to be in the world. For me, art (both making and viewing) were very tangible ways of being intentional in listening to myself, paying close attention to the world, and finding small and connective ways to make sense of the confusion around me. If anything, the pandemic has shown me how we all desire a sense of connection and safety, and that sometimes the easiest way to grow is from within.

Gargi Dixit, “Mapping Immigrant Narratives Across Asian American Cultures”

A map of Asia and America, connected by paths. "The world is one family" and "to use violence is to already be defeated" are printed above and below the map.
“Mapping Immigrant Narratives Across Asian American Cultures” by Gargi Dixit

About the Artist

  • Degree/year: BSPH Biostatistics, 2nd year 
  • Pronouns: she/her

Tell us about your artistic journey.

I’ve always enjoyed expressing my creativity, whether it be through doodling detailed zentangle designs or doing amateur calligraphy. For the past several years, my focus has been on the performing art of Indian classical vocal music. I love to integrate multiple media and express a meaningful message, which is what I’ve hoped to do in this piece. 

Tell us a little bit about the project/piece.

The piece aims to express the shared and overlooked history of anti-AAPI hate, specifically focusing on women within the community. The piece grew out of a course on women in contemporary art that I am currently taking. By including the names of various East and South Asian American victims of hate crimes throughout the past few decades, in the larger context of a history of immigration, I hope to draw attention to the historical nuances that impact AAPI experiences today. 

What was your inspiration?

I was inspired by the experiences and narratives of AAPI women in my community at UNC. Throughout the past two years, I’ve been learning a lot about AAPI experiences from the news and from other UNC students. It’s inspired me to educate myself on the AAPI community’s history in the United States, and how it influences the community’s current challenges. 

The theme “Grounded Growth” is meant to represent the growth that the past two years have warranted for everyone. We wanted to take this year and this day to discuss, reflect on, and celebrate how the arts have supported us through these periods of growth and how they can continue for the future. What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

Grounded growth means to strive for change while also remaining true to one’s roots. The past two years have been transformed by a global pandemic and a racial reckoning, heralding change in our society. At the personal and societal level, we’ve experienced isolation, fear, loneliness, and challenges like never before. We’ve also had the chance to slow down, reflect, and reevaluate our lives, allowing us space to be creative. The arts have been a great source of support to my community, giving us an outlet to express and connect. 

Gary Zhang, “An educational autobiography”

Read An Educational Autobiography – Gary Zhang

About the Artist

Tell us about your artistic journey

You know, I originally wrote this piece for a class asking about how education has impacted my life. But the irony that I’ve been linked from one man who shares my name, to another man who’s almost the exact opposite—that was too good a chance to not take. And a rare one, too—the number of people named “Gary” is dramatically on the decline, so the fact that this should happen isn’t exactly expected. So, I decided to polish up this piece, and interweave these details into my narrative. 

What was your inspiration?

It really started when I started looking up where my name came from. My parents had told me for a while I was named after a politician, and I got curious about where it came from. 

The theme “Grounded Growth” is meant to represent the growth that the past two years have warranted for everyone. We wanted to take this year and this day to discuss, reflect on, and celebrate how the arts have supported us through these periods of growth and how they can continue for the future. What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

Growth is an endless process. People are always changing, even when they don’t think they are. For me, it’s important to direct that change towards growth through reflection, and it’s grounded in my values of what kind of person I’d like to be. This piece shows a literal growth as I’ve gotten older, but also the figurative growth I’ve undergone as a person. I don’t always discuss this second sense of growth directly, but I’ve tried to help the reader to infer where this growth has happened. And if I’ve done a poor job of helping readers to discover it—well, that just means I still have a lot to grow as a writer.

Flying Silk, “Dawn”

Flying Silk members pose outside at UNC

About the Artist

Tell us about your artistic journey 

UNC Flying Silk was started in 2012 by a group of friends who were passionate about traditional Chinese dancing throughout high school. They founded Flying Silk in college as a goal to promote their culture with the UNC community, as Flying Silk is the first and only official Chinese dance team on UNC’s campus. Initially, Flying Silk only used silk ribbons as the main prop. Now we have ventured into using more props like silk fans and umbrellas. Originally consisting of only 6 members, our team has grown to typically include around 14 members per year and we now combine more traditional and modern dance styles and music. 

Tell us a little bit about the project/piece

This piece tells the story of spring as a parallel to the rejuvenation we’ve gone through. The first piece, “Past and Present,” reminisces on pre-pandemic times, represented by the lightness of our fans. In our second piece, “In the End,” we’re thrown into the emotional uncertainty that was brought upon us, symbolized by contemporary dance. Just as spring brings light, our final piece, “Dance of the Sun” shows our journey stepping back into our new normal with the brilliance of colored ribbons.

What was your inspiration?

As we developed this piece, there was a Chinese phrase that came to mind. 守得云开见月明 “Every cloud has a silver lining”, meaning that every difficult or sad situation has a comforting or more hopeful aspect, even if it may not be immediately apparent. We’ve been experiencing dark and gloomy nights during the pandemic, But it’s important to remind ourselves that there will always be another sunrise and a new day and we hope to showcase this in our performance piece.

What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

As a parallel to how spring begins after winter, our team has also gone through immense development and grounded growth through the pandemic. We still danced and created choreography each year for our pieces, despite not being able to be together to practice and perform live in person. Our piece reflects this journey our team has gone through to show resilience. 

Hayden Park, “Now I Look Back and Laugh!”

“Now I Look Back and Laugh!” by Hayden Park - handwritten and typed collaging with spirals, images and stars
“Now I Look Back and Laugh!” by Hayden Park

About the Artist

Tell us about your artistic journey

Creating this piece has been quite the journey for me, emotionally, because it is the visual counterpart to a poem I wrote last fall in regards to my mental health. While working on it, I’ve revisited past emotions, many of which helped me inform my decisions for the collage. Intended to be cathartic, I allowed myself to have fun with making this piece rather than mulling over each and every detail. The result is a piece that looks a bit chaotic or messy at first glance— but clear to see it was made with a whole lot of love! 

Tell us a little bit about the piece 

My inspiration for this piece was a poem by the same name that I wrote last fall, which was a reflection of my year (2021) and my mental health battles. Due to the pandemic and time during quarantine, I had become more introverted and reclusive. I convinced myself that whatever mental health issues I was dealing with, I had to deal with alone. My family had shown up for me in the darkest of times last year, reminding me that not only am I not alone, but on the contrary, I am deeply loved and cherished. Whenever I lack the strength to do something for my own benefit, whether that be something as simple as practicing personal hygiene or eating, I remember their belief in me and it fuels me through the day.

What was your inspiration? 

My inspiration for this piece was a poem by the same name that I wrote last fall, which was a reflection of my year (2021) and my mental health battles. Due to the pandemic and time during quarantine, I had become more introverted and reclusive. I convinced myself that whatever mental health issues I was dealing with, I had to deal with alone. My family had shown up for me in the darkest of times last year, reminding me that not only am I not alone, but on the contrary, I am deeply loved and cherished. Whenever I lack the strength to do something for my own benefit, whether that be something as simple as practicing personal hygiene or eating, I remember their belief in me and it fuels me through the day.

The theme “Grounded Growth” is meant to represent the growth that the past two years have warranted for everyone. We wanted to take this year and this day to discuss, reflect on, and celebrate how the arts have supported us through these periods of growth and how they can continue for the future. What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

Grounded growth, to me, means personal development that was able to transpire in out-of-the-ordinary circumstances. COVID-19 changed reality for all of us. It forced us to re-evaluate our goals, motivations, values, and thus, enabled us to grow and adapt rapidly. This theme is reflected in my piece in the changing visuals, as I am depicted to find the strength to get better through the help of my family’s belief and support. It’s in adverse times like these that I realize how lucky I am to have such a tight knit family, a group of people who have already been through so much as first-gen immigrants and continue to show up for each other every single day.

Isabel Lu, Pomelo

"Pomelo" by Isabel Lu - a woman ripping open a pomelo fruit
“Pomelo” by Isabel Lu

About the Artist

Tell us about your artistic journey

I’m a first-generation Chinese American who grew up in Greensboro, NC. I’ve been drawing and painting my entire life and I owe a lot of my artistic development at Weaver Academy high school under the mentorship of Steven Cozart. I earned my B.S. in Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University and am currently completing my Masters in Public Health at Gillings. I plan to pursue a career in health equity research focused on Asian American experiences with food and nutrition. 

I primarily work with oil paints and portraiture, but also work in digital media as a graphic designer. My work journey’s personal growth into unpacking internalized racism, aphobia, and body image, and explores how we visualize and interpret the same image in different ways, based on our biases and identities. In both art and academia, Asians are not necessarily underrepresented in the workforce, but our community’s needs, struggles, and knowledge are aggregated, disregarded, and appropriated. Our bodies and minds are used but not seen or understood. Through both traditional and expressionist portrait painting techniques, I intentionally place our bodies as the subjects of my work. As a practice of accountability, I lean into personal struggles of discomfort, such as wearing eyelid tape for 8 years in order to have a larger double fold, avoiding tanning and “yellowing” of skin, and experiencing the manipulation of BIPOC voices and experiences in public health advocacy. My work requires the participation of the audience to recognize the devices in my paintings and ask themselves how they have observed, participated, and/or experienced those events.

Tell us about your piece.

Fruit often symbolizes femininity, sexuality, and fertility. In Chinese households, fruit celebrated, often offered as gifts and presented at gatherings of families and friends. In my household, fruit was at the center of the table during the happiest moments and used as a peace offering when we got into explosive arguments. Fruit said to you, “we may disagree, but I still care about you and your health. So eat something.” Most anti-Asian hate crimes have been inflicted on Asian women; a direct result of the fetishization and objectification of Asian women’s bodies and identities. As someone who identifies as asexual and gender queer, I’ve rejected personal expressions of femininity in fear of being targeted by uninvited advancements. I’ve distanced myself from my ethnic identity in confusion over how Chinese I really am. But these past two years have made me reflect on the nuance of gender expression and representation of my ethnicity within and outside of my community: that I am more than a sweet, juicy yield of a harvest, only consumed at the peak of ripeness. I exist both within my own internalized racism and bias, and outside of others’ perceptions of my presentation and race.

Julie Kim, “Scene”

Read Scene by Julie Kim.

About the Artist

  • Degree/year: English and Comparative Literature- Creative Nonfiction Writing, Political Science, ’22 
  • Pronouns: she/her
  • Learn more about Julie

Tell us about your artistic journey

My artistic journey in writing started when I took my first Creative Writing class at UNC. To be honest, it feels odd to consider my own writing as art, but every workshop I took, and every new work that I have written has gotten me to the point where I feel that I would not be who I am today without my ability to write. I write when I’m bored. I write when I’m upset. I write when I’m happy. And it’s for that reason that I consider myself a writer, not because I’m great at it, but because writing was my first friend, and is still the first friend I turn to. 

Tell us a little bit about the project/piece.

This piece was one that I wrote for my Senior Honors Creative Nonfiction Thesis. Ironically, I don’t particularly enjoy writing about nature, but that is the main focus of this piece. I question the impermanence of life, and how it makes everything feel that much more valuable. 

What was your inspiration? While I was trying to make a habit of writing every day for my Honors Thesis, I struggled with knowing what I wanted to write about. And it was on this particular day, as I sat by the window I always sat by, that I realized I faced the outside as I wrote, but never actually left my house. So, I decided to sit in my backyard and see if the new location would help. It did. And writing this piece reminded me of how the simplest things can inspire us to write. We see the sky, birds, trees, and cars all the time. But the most mundane can be the most beautiful. 

The theme “Grounded Growth” is meant to represent the growth that the past two years have warranted for everyone. We wanted to take this year and this day to discuss, reflect on, and celebrate how the arts have supported us through these periods of growth and how they can continue for the future. What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

The phrase “grounded growth” reminds me of the fine line between chaos and consistency. We all need a little bit of both to stay sane. I feel that over the past couple of years I have grown because I have had mentors, friends, and family to allow me to experience for myself the chaos of reality, while having the consistency of their support through it all. And growth seems to me, sporadic in nature. If you keep going at whatever you want to grow in, you will find yourself one day in a place of undeniable growth.

Luke Yuen Johnson, “Ta” 

"Ta" by Luke Yuen Johnson - a pagoda surrounded by trees
“Ta” by Luke Yuen Johnson

Tell us about your artistic journey

I’m a mostly self-taught artist from Raleigh, North Carolina, inspired most heavily by landscapes and the animals that live among them. Growing up, I never really focused on studio art as a subject until I was encouraged by a friend to apply for AP art in my senior year of high school, and then all of a sudden it became this massive part of my life and even part of my college degree. I work primarily with watercolor, gouache, and oil paints to create characters and narratives that often center on ideas of conservation or environmentalism. I don’t usually paint my feelings, so the process for this piece, Ta, was something completely new to me.

Tell us a little bit about the project/piece.

With Ta, I wanted to describe the feeling of ambivalence in a time of crisis. The lone pagoda, made up of warm and cool tones, can be interpreted as standing tall amidst an inferno or just moments from collapsing. Over the course of the pandemic and throughout this time of targeted anti-Asian xenophobia and hate crimes, I’ve felt as though my identity as a mixed Asian American has been just as capricious, existing on the cusp of pride and fear. The Mandarin word “ta” has multiple meanings dependent on the tone and context. It can mean pagoda, he, her, they, it, to collapse, to stamp out, to calm down. This piece allows me to share this feeling with others and use this opportunity to explore my identity rather than hide it.

What was your inspiration?

I was inspired by photos of pagodas I took in Kaifeng, China at Qing Ming Shang He Yuan, where a famous scroll painting was produced. It shows the daily rituals of people during a festival, and I liked the idea of subverting that imagery and making the landscape appear harsh and unwelcome. The reference image I ended up using was actually a creative commons photo taken in Japan because I wanted to explore the ways I could separate parts of the valley with the underpainting to have these strong red diagonals cutting across the piece. 

The theme “Grounded Growth” is meant to represent the growth that the past two years have warranted for everyone. We wanted to take this year and this day to discuss, reflect on, and celebrate how the arts have supported us through these periods of growth and how they can continue for the future. What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

With Ta, I wanted to describe the feeling of ambivalence in a time of crisis. The lone pagoda, made up of warm and cool tones, can be interpreted as standing tall amidst an inferno or just moments from collapsing. Over the course of the pandemic and throughout this time of targeted anti-Asian xenophobia and hate crimes, I’ve felt as though my identity as a mixed Asian American has been just as capricious, existing on the cusp of pride and fear. The Mandarin word ta has multiple meanings dependent on which tone is used. It can mean pagoda, he, her, they, it, to collapse, to stamp out, to calm down. Ta allows me to share this feeling with others and use this opportunity to explore my identity rather than hide it. I believe this reflection is the first step to grow past this period of unrest. 

Manjari Kumarappan, “Synchronize”

"Synchronize" by Manjari Kumarappan - Palm-opened hands covered in Henna art
“Synchronize” by Manjari Kumarappan

About the Artist

  • Degree/year: First-year Master of Public Health student in Health Behavior
  • Pronouns: She/her/hers
  • Learn more about Manjari

Tell us about your artistic journey

I would describe myself as an artist “on the side” and it’s usually less about the product and more about the process – I enjoy the optimism that comes out of creating art. The one exception to that is that I do like creating pieces for others because I find it the easiest way to show others how much and what they mean to me.  

Tell us a little bit about the project/piece.

I used henna on both my hands to depict “Grounded Growth” quite literally – with one hand showing self-care and the other hand showing relationships and showing the flow of energy between both when my hands are placed together.

What was your inspiration?

I picked up henna during the pandemic – it was the perfect opportunity because I could easily go 4 to 5 hours without needing to use my hands. Every time I’ve done henna, I try to one-up what I’ve done previously, so it started with tracing simple drawings on my left hand to doing more intricate, unique pieces across both of my hands like this one. This felt like another perfect opportunity to challenge myself and show, through the skill it requires and the piece itself, how much I’ve grown over these past 2 years. 

The theme “Grounded Growth” is meant to represent the growth that the past two years have warranted for everyone. We wanted to take this year and this day to discuss, reflect on, and celebrate how the arts have supported us through these periods of growth and how they can continue for the future. What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

On one hand, when I think of “Grounded Growth,” I see the energy I’ve devoted towards self-care and being the best and strongest version of myself. On the other hand, I see the connections I’ve deepened with family, friends, and my community through moments that seem larger than life. Perhaps the richest lesson I’ve gleaned from these past 2 years is that these hands aren’t independent, rather, they flourish together.

Phong Dinh, “Vietnam, December 2018”

“Vietnam, December 2018” by Phong Dinh - A series of 12 photos of various cities in Vietnam
“Vietnam, December 2018” by Phong Dinh

About the Artist

Tell us about your artistic journey

My parents always took a lot of photos of us growing up, and I used to spend hours going through all the photo albums in our house. I was so excited when I was finally allowed to handle the camera by myself and have been hooked ever since. There’s something special about the work and thought that goes into photography. It’s fun being able to explore your creativity and find your own style. Even though everything is mostly digital these days, I feel like photography is still a “tangible” way to document your overall growth because not only can you see how your style has changed when looking at past photos, but you’re also reminded of where you were at that point in your life when the photo was taken, and it’s interesting to see how far you’ve come. 

Tell us a little bit about the project/piece.  

I compiled some of my favorite photos taken during my first trip to Vietnam when I was 22. This trip meant a lot to me and was really important to my own journey of understanding my Asian American identity (I identify as a 25-year-old Vietnamese American male). It wasn’t until this trip that I finally met someone else with the same name as me. It was surreal to be somewhere I didn’t have to spell and pronounce my name to anyone. To walk through the cities my parents were from, have my ears filled with the sounds of my first language, and see the streets filled with faces that looked like mine…How could a place so foreign to me somehow feel like home? Reflecting on these photos makes me think about the search for a sense of belonging and identity that so many Asian Americans experience.

The theme “Grounded Growth” is meant to represent the growth that the past two years have warranted for everyone. We wanted to take this year and this day to discuss, reflect on, and celebrate how the arts have supported us through these periods of growth and how they can continue for the future. What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

There’s something bittersweet about being able to see where my family came from and realizing how much they’ve achieved from a new perspective, but still feeling as if we’ll always be outsiders fighting for a place in America no matter how long we’ve been here or how hard we work. As children of immigrants, we often feel the weight of our family’s intergenerational trauma and the burden of being the first ones to unpack it. But something I’ve thought about recently is intergenerational strength – strength to start over somewhere new and build a life for our loved ones, and strength found in the shared experiences of our Asian American peers. Given the increased anti-Asian violence we’ve seen in the past two years, I think it’s important to remind ourselves of the collective strength and resilience we can draw on as we continue to advocate for our communities and our place here.

I wanted to take another trip to Vietnam in 2020 before I started grad school, but these plans were obviously put on hold due to the pandemic. Two years have flown by, and now it’s 2022 and I’m almost done with school. I’ve been pursuing a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration, and over the last two years I’ve been doing my own outside reading on Asian American history and Asian American health. I’m thankful that I have these photos to reflect on, and I’m grateful to be fortunate enough to have access to resources that have helped me in my journey of understanding my Asian American identity and the person I want to be in the world. 

Rachel Donnan, “Where Are You Really From?”

Read Where Are You Really From by Rachel Donnan.

About the Artist

  • Degree/year: English and Comparative Literature Major/Sophomore
  • Pronouns: she/her
  • Learn more about Rachel

Tell us about your artistic journey

I started writing the first iteration of this piece over a year ago when I first started thinking about what the implications of being “from” somewhere are. I revisited the piece every few months because my ideas and feelings towards my own identity are always changing, and they underwent a major change after a trip I got to take with a friend into Chinatown, New York. The final version I have now reflects where I am currently in my journey to rediscover my cultural heritage, and how I’ve healed my relationship with my identity as an Asian-American.

Tell us a little bit about the project/piece.

In this essay, I detail my experiences with being asked “where are you really from?” I grapple with my own identity as an Asian-American in a society that ostracizes and punishes you for being different while also making it impossible for you to fully assimilate. I discuss my own experiences of being trapped in the cycle of hate, shame, and grief, and how I’ve managed to work my way out of that cycle towards self-forgiveness.

What was your inspiration?

My inspiration came from the experiences of my other Asian-American friends, who have also had to decode the question: “where are you from?” Our discussions on this question are what has allowed me to break down and examine the question for what people intend it to mean and what it really means.

The theme “Grounded Growth” is meant to represent the growth that the past two years have warranted for everyone. We wanted to take this year and this day to discuss, reflect on, and celebrate how the arts have supported us through these periods of growth and how they can continue for the future. What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

The idea of grounded growth makes me think of the progress that is found within yourself. But the reality of that is you may not always be the most steady and consistent place to foster growth. First, before you can ground your growth in yourself, you have to work through feelings of hate and shame and grief, and forgive yourself so that the growth that you do foster is uncomplicated and healthy.

Saayli Kokitkar, “River of Time”

“River of Time” by Saayli Kokitkar - a blue and green river with a face in it
“River of Time” by Saayli Kokitkar

About the Artist

  • Degree/year: Health Behavior/’23
  • Pronouns: she/they
  • Learn more about Saayli

Tell us about your artistic journey.

Saayli is coming to expressing herself artistically in any form they can. 

Tell us a little bit about the project/piece.

If time is a river,  

Trickling seconds of wept universality, circumventing direction 

forwards and backwards, 

The current warps. River bends 

Gushing beyond the life lines of a palm, the dimensions of flesh in flux. 

Toothed beings hydraulicly pressed along the curves of cyclicality,  

fluidity scathes the eternal.  

Death enraptured by life, excavations of oozing 

ancestral bones buoyed to survival and arrival to- 

where would you be without mother earth 

from whom you spring?  

To be grounded is metamorphosis. 

What was your inspiration? 

Saayli is heavily inspired by Octavia Butler’s concept of ‘God is Change’ in Parable of the Sower and the analogy of a ‘river of time’ in Gu Zhen Ren’s Reverend Insanity. 

The theme “Grounded Growth” is meant to represent the growth that the past two years have warranted for everyone. We wanted to take this year and this day to discuss, reflect on, and celebrate how the arts have supported us through these periods of growth and how they can continue for the future. What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

By drawing upon and relating to movement and the analogy of fluidity, this piece adds to political conversation and views of the world that allow for mobility and particularity in our constructions of humanity, universality and the future. There has been, continues to be, and will be much to reckon with, deconstruct, heal, build, and free. In this project, growth is grounded in fluidity, cyclicality, and multi-dimensionality to offer insight for pursuing our relationship with change at our own paces and allow for reconciliation across time.

Yang Yang and Yunzhi Qian, “My Pandemic Pup”

“My Pandemic Pup” by Yang Yang and Yunzhi Qian - pencil drawing of a corgi puppy
“My Pandemic Pup” by Yang Yang and Yunzhi Qian

About the Artists

Yang Yang

 Yunzhi Qian

Tell us about your artistic journey 

Yang received his “formal training” in drawing when he was an undergraduate student who majored in urban planning in China. His passion for drawing continued and this sketch art was the newest painting during the pandemic. 

Tell us a little bit about the project/piece. 

Adopting a dog was never a plan before the pandemic, but now Tutu is one important member of our family. Because of the pandemic, we could not go back to Asia due to the travel restrictions. Our apartment life was dull and stressful before Tutu came. As first-time dog owners, Tutu pushed us to try many new things that we had never done before. We met many new American friends by walking the dog, visiting the veterinarian, and arranging dog playdates. Now Tutu has become a must-have topic in our daily video calls with our parents in Asia. 

What was your inspiration?

Tutu, our sweet and chubby “Tar Heel corgi”. 

The theme “Grounded Growth” is meant to represent the growth that the past two years have warranted for everyone. We wanted to take this year and this day to discuss, reflect on, and celebrate how the arts have supported us through these periods of growth and how they can continue for the future. What does grounded growth mean to you and how is it reflected in your project/piece?

Since moving to the United States, I haven’t really drawn something during my spare time. The pandemic allowed us to stay at home much longer than usual, and it also reminded me that I should take up my forgotten skill. Before drawing this sketch, I quite doubt if I still have the capability to finish a still life sketch with animals. During the painting process, I gradually found the feeling of controlling the pencil in the past, and this feeling of regaining the past is wonderful. This may be one of the benefits of working from home, giving you more time to reflect on the things that were overlooked in the noisy life.

The APIDA Student Arts Experiences Exhibit, curated by Isabel Lu for Arts Everywhere Day is on view at the Asian American Center through the month of April 2022.

Special thanks to Max Dowdle for his expertise in hanging the show!

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