intersections: asian american narratives
Please save the date for the artist reception of "intersections: asian american narratives" at Lindsay Dirkx Brown Gallery in San Ramon, CA on the 7th of February 2015, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
There will be a photo-shoot presented by our participating artist Judy Shintani at the Artist Reception from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm. Dress up in one of Judy's healing shields and receive a digital image. Solid dark clothing is preferable. Artist Reiko Fujii will be photographing and Judy will be styling the participants!
Participating Artists
Lydia Nakashima Degarrod, Salma Arastu, Irene Wibawa, Nirmal Raja, Indrani Nayar-Gall, Pamela Ybanez, Judy Shintani, and Pallavi Sharma
The show brings together Asian American artists who are constantly exploring the new ways to comprehend the complexities of class, gender, and ethnicity. They address the issues from multiple perspectives and challenge the traditional ideas of identity formation through new themes and innovative mediums. The intention of the show is to create a fluid space of creative engagement and generate an open ended visual discourse on the construction, and reconstruction, of identity. Works in the exhibition includes small installations, printmaking, performance and mixed media works with participatory intent.
Curated by Pallavi Sharma
Lydia Nakashima Degarrod
Artist Statement
I am both a visual artist and a cultural anthropologist who aims at expanding the boundaries of the disciplines of cultural anthropology and art by utilizing the knowledge of both to question the boundaries of ethnographic and artistic representations, and to produce artworks which convey the aesthetics of social events or places in which individuals share events of an extraordinary nature. I believe that these events not only have the power to transform the individuals themselves, but also the creation of different cultural aesthetic forms.
Biography and introduction:
Lydia Nakashima Degarrod has received numerous awards and grants. She has been Artist in Residence at Harvard University (1997-8), at the Center for Art and Public Life (2007-8), and at California State University at Chico (2006). She has received grants and awards from the California Council for the Humanities (2007-8), Ministry of Culture of Chile (1999-0), Saint John’s University (1996) and the Wing Luke Memorial Museum (1985). Her latest exhibit, Geographies of the Imagination: An Ethnographic Installation of Memories of Exile, Nostalgia and Migration was exhibited at the Museum of Anthropology at the California State University, Chico in 2013.
Artist Statement
I am both a visual artist and a cultural anthropologist who aims at expanding the boundaries of the disciplines of cultural anthropology and art by utilizing the knowledge of both to question the boundaries of ethnographic and artistic representations, and to produce artworks which convey the aesthetics of social events or places in which individuals share events of an extraordinary nature. I believe that these events not only have the power to transform the individuals themselves, but also the creation of different cultural aesthetic forms.
Biography and introduction:
Lydia Nakashima Degarrod has received numerous awards and grants. She has been Artist in Residence at Harvard University (1997-8), at the Center for Art and Public Life (2007-8), and at California State University at Chico (2006). She has received grants and awards from the California Council for the Humanities (2007-8), Ministry of Culture of Chile (1999-0), Saint John’s University (1996) and the Wing Luke Memorial Museum (1985). Her latest exhibit, Geographies of the Imagination: An Ethnographic Installation of Memories of Exile, Nostalgia and Migration was exhibited at the Museum of Anthropology at the California State University, Chico in 2013.
Salma Arastu
Artist Statement
Celebration of Calligraphy
I am creating a series of large-scale paintings using Arabic Calligraphy to reflect the positive and universal message of Al-Quran to the world. My purpose is to reach out to a broad community in the pursuit of peace; to celebrate diversity, and create a positive interfaith dialogue through visual art that subtly penetrates the human heart to evoke response.
I paint to express the prayers of my heart and intend for the energy of the calligraphy, powered by the positive messages from the texts, to reveal the joy and celebration that I experience while creating them.
Biography and introduction:
Arastu has been painting for over 30 years and has exhibited at least 40 solo shows nationally and abroad. Her awards and honors include a six-week residency in 2000 in Schwabish Gmund, Germany, and two East Bay Community Foundation Fund for Artists Matching Commission grants. She has three works in Public Art and three books published with her art and poetry. She published her first book, The Lyrical Line (Half-Full Press, Oakland, California), in 2009, Turning Rumi: Singing Verses of Love, Unity and Freedom in 2012 and "Celebration of Calligraphy" in 2014.
Artist Statement
Celebration of Calligraphy
I am creating a series of large-scale paintings using Arabic Calligraphy to reflect the positive and universal message of Al-Quran to the world. My purpose is to reach out to a broad community in the pursuit of peace; to celebrate diversity, and create a positive interfaith dialogue through visual art that subtly penetrates the human heart to evoke response.
I paint to express the prayers of my heart and intend for the energy of the calligraphy, powered by the positive messages from the texts, to reveal the joy and celebration that I experience while creating them.
Biography and introduction:
Arastu has been painting for over 30 years and has exhibited at least 40 solo shows nationally and abroad. Her awards and honors include a six-week residency in 2000 in Schwabish Gmund, Germany, and two East Bay Community Foundation Fund for Artists Matching Commission grants. She has three works in Public Art and three books published with her art and poetry. She published her first book, The Lyrical Line (Half-Full Press, Oakland, California), in 2009, Turning Rumi: Singing Verses of Love, Unity and Freedom in 2012 and "Celebration of Calligraphy" in 2014.
Indrani Nayar-Gall
Artist Statement
Morphed
An image of a lady at US airport terminal remains etched in mind and will perhaps haunt me forever.
On my return to US from a trip abroad I notice an elderly lady walking ahead of me. She is asking questions to everyone who passes her. She looks lost. Some pause for a moment, listens but gives up and go their way. She probably doesn’t speak or read English. Perhaps she is an immigrant, or a visitor coming to see her relatives in USA. I can see her desperation. I catch up with her. She notices me and begins asking me questions in her language. I don’t understand but can follow this much that she is trying to find the exit. I try to use hand gestures and other to help but in vain I too leave her there – helpless and frantic. Is she still walking through the hallways of US terminal looking for her way?
‘Morphed,’ a small section of a bigger installation titled ‘Between Blurring,’ is a reflection of stories of immigrants like her, others, and me frantically trying to find their way. It tries to capture those feelings and emotions of constant learning/losing/adapting in our new home/land. I wanted to create a work where this transformation can unfold to the viewer—frame by frame—similar to the slow-motion footage of a film. The work is manipulation of prints made from a single deeply etched plate inscribed with scripts from my native tongue Bengali, Sanskrit and English. Each print is a slight variation of the one before. ‘Morphed,’ composed of four prints, is the last four frames/prints of the original work.
Biography and introduction:
Indrani Nayar-Gall, Indian by birth, lived in India and Barbados before migrating to US. She is a multi-disciplinary artist. She received an MFA in experimental printmaking from Visva Bharati University, India; a diploma in education from University of West Indies and a graduate certificate in contemporary non-toxic printmaking from Rochester Institute of Technology, NY. She has exhibited nationally and internationally. In 2014 her work was shown at Brentwood Art Exchange, MD; International Print Center NY; Christie’s Midtown Manhattan; Central Booking, NYC; Perez Museum, Miami and The Gallery at Greenhill, NC. Her recent solo and two person exhibitions include UNC Charlotte, Levin Museum of The New South, Charlotte, NC; Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC and Elon University, NC.
Artist Statement
Morphed
An image of a lady at US airport terminal remains etched in mind and will perhaps haunt me forever.
On my return to US from a trip abroad I notice an elderly lady walking ahead of me. She is asking questions to everyone who passes her. She looks lost. Some pause for a moment, listens but gives up and go their way. She probably doesn’t speak or read English. Perhaps she is an immigrant, or a visitor coming to see her relatives in USA. I can see her desperation. I catch up with her. She notices me and begins asking me questions in her language. I don’t understand but can follow this much that she is trying to find the exit. I try to use hand gestures and other to help but in vain I too leave her there – helpless and frantic. Is she still walking through the hallways of US terminal looking for her way?
‘Morphed,’ a small section of a bigger installation titled ‘Between Blurring,’ is a reflection of stories of immigrants like her, others, and me frantically trying to find their way. It tries to capture those feelings and emotions of constant learning/losing/adapting in our new home/land. I wanted to create a work where this transformation can unfold to the viewer—frame by frame—similar to the slow-motion footage of a film. The work is manipulation of prints made from a single deeply etched plate inscribed with scripts from my native tongue Bengali, Sanskrit and English. Each print is a slight variation of the one before. ‘Morphed,’ composed of four prints, is the last four frames/prints of the original work.
Biography and introduction:
Indrani Nayar-Gall, Indian by birth, lived in India and Barbados before migrating to US. She is a multi-disciplinary artist. She received an MFA in experimental printmaking from Visva Bharati University, India; a diploma in education from University of West Indies and a graduate certificate in contemporary non-toxic printmaking from Rochester Institute of Technology, NY. She has exhibited nationally and internationally. In 2014 her work was shown at Brentwood Art Exchange, MD; International Print Center NY; Christie’s Midtown Manhattan; Central Booking, NYC; Perez Museum, Miami and The Gallery at Greenhill, NC. Her recent solo and two person exhibitions include UNC Charlotte, Levin Museum of The New South, Charlotte, NC; Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC and Elon University, NC.
Pamela Ybañez
Artist Statement
These images are a visual exploration of one of the most sacred iconic images in the United States, the American flag. It investigates the various ways the flag is presented throughout our culture trying to understand what patriotism means in the US, and who is included & excluded within the term "American." As an Asian American, specifically Filipina American, my quest for finding my place within the American culture has expanded to include a study of the culture within which I have tried to fit in to. Exploring this larger picture, allows me to have greater understanding overall on issues of racial politics in the US. Since 2005 I have been taking photos of the flag in many diverse places, within the continental US and Hawaii.
Biography and introduction:
As a native Filipina, Pamela Ybañez currently lives in Oakland, CA. She enjoys creating art events such as artist’s talks or curating and organizing interactive workshops. As a conceptual artist, she strives to use the materials that allow her to best represent specific ideas. Currently, her projects include creating free interactive workshops for the community through The New Hall, paintings that investigate the history between the Philippines and U.S., and photographing images of American patriotism through the flag.
Artist Statement
These images are a visual exploration of one of the most sacred iconic images in the United States, the American flag. It investigates the various ways the flag is presented throughout our culture trying to understand what patriotism means in the US, and who is included & excluded within the term "American." As an Asian American, specifically Filipina American, my quest for finding my place within the American culture has expanded to include a study of the culture within which I have tried to fit in to. Exploring this larger picture, allows me to have greater understanding overall on issues of racial politics in the US. Since 2005 I have been taking photos of the flag in many diverse places, within the continental US and Hawaii.
Biography and introduction:
As a native Filipina, Pamela Ybañez currently lives in Oakland, CA. She enjoys creating art events such as artist’s talks or curating and organizing interactive workshops. As a conceptual artist, she strives to use the materials that allow her to best represent specific ideas. Currently, her projects include creating free interactive workshops for the community through The New Hall, paintings that investigate the history between the Philippines and U.S., and photographing images of American patriotism through the flag.
Judy Shintani
Artist Statement
Healing Shields
These feminine shaped shields honor the strength and serenity that women hold for their family, community, and the planet. I intuitively gathered plants to adorn and infuse the shields with qualities of healing, perception, power, transformation, and beauty.
Connecting to the earth is a powerful source of renewal – especially during this time of strife and turmoil around the world. Throughout history humans of all cultures have retreated into nature for centering and grounding - a way to return to their true selves.
I have fond childhood memories of walking on wooded trails and beaches with my family. The gathering of leaves for this project reminded me of my mother’s way of identifying trees and flowers. My work incorporates her teachings and creates a way to artistically offer them to new digital generations who may have a different relationship with nature.
Biography and introduction:
Judy Shintani is the Narrator of Culture. The unspoken compels her to create. Shintani’s art depicts family stories, honors history, showcases women’s issues, earth concerns, and offers viewers ways to participate and become art collaborators. She works with found and organic objects, video, and words.She has exhibited throughout California and the Pacific Northwest. Sheowns and runs the Kitsune Community Art Studio in Half Moon Bay, CA, and curates the Coastside Artists Doctors Without Borders Benefit. Shintani is a creativity facilitator working with artists from 2 to 101 years old. She has a MA in Transformative Art from JFKU, Berkeley, and a BS in Graphic Design from San Jose State University.
Artist Statement
Healing Shields
These feminine shaped shields honor the strength and serenity that women hold for their family, community, and the planet. I intuitively gathered plants to adorn and infuse the shields with qualities of healing, perception, power, transformation, and beauty.
Connecting to the earth is a powerful source of renewal – especially during this time of strife and turmoil around the world. Throughout history humans of all cultures have retreated into nature for centering and grounding - a way to return to their true selves.
I have fond childhood memories of walking on wooded trails and beaches with my family. The gathering of leaves for this project reminded me of my mother’s way of identifying trees and flowers. My work incorporates her teachings and creates a way to artistically offer them to new digital generations who may have a different relationship with nature.
Biography and introduction:
Judy Shintani is the Narrator of Culture. The unspoken compels her to create. Shintani’s art depicts family stories, honors history, showcases women’s issues, earth concerns, and offers viewers ways to participate and become art collaborators. She works with found and organic objects, video, and words.She has exhibited throughout California and the Pacific Northwest. Sheowns and runs the Kitsune Community Art Studio in Half Moon Bay, CA, and curates the Coastside Artists Doctors Without Borders Benefit. Shintani is a creativity facilitator working with artists from 2 to 101 years old. She has a MA in Transformative Art from JFKU, Berkeley, and a BS in Graphic Design from San Jose State University.
Nirmal Raja
Scribed Series: 2014
a. Untitled, b. Lyrical Lines, c. Community, d. Confluence, e. Growth, f. Intersections
Palm leaf scrolls, intaglio prints on paper
The urge to inscribe and then to replicate defines the history of literary production and dissemination across the world for many centuries now. Books are proof of our existence in this world at a certain point in time and they mirror our inner selves. The Scribed series postures the artist as scribe and explores the intersection between drawing and writing, making the line a universal mode of expression. Palm leaf scrolls (an ancient book form in India) are used as a substrate and lines and patterns replace words and images in this work. The rhythm of mark making, the graceful or staccato line, the pattern inherent in repetition and the texture of the substrate, all work together to form a distinctive expression in each work. The palm leaf scrolls are then used as printing plates to form mirror images on paper. The two elements are inseparable in composition and are a reflection of each other- duality in dialogue.
As an artist living between two cultures, I find myself constantly translating. The Scribed series is part of recent work where I am exploring different aspects of language- script as form, legibility and illegibility. I ask the question- Is communication possible beyond and outside of our conventional understanding of language? What is the potential of breaking down the coding of text and making it non referential- beyond specificity and context?
Biography and introduction:
Raja migrated to this country twenty-five years ago from Hong Kong and India. She received her Bachelors in Fine Art from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and received her Masters in Fine Art from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.
Presently, Raja is an associate lecturer at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She is also a resident mentor at Redline Milwaukee, a community based arts laboratory. Raja has received many awards and has shown her work in various places in the US, S. Korea and India. Recently she received grants from the Wisconsin Arts Board and the Milwaukee Arts Board in support of an exhibition at Redline Milwaukee.
Scribed Series: 2014
a. Untitled, b. Lyrical Lines, c. Community, d. Confluence, e. Growth, f. Intersections
Palm leaf scrolls, intaglio prints on paper
The urge to inscribe and then to replicate defines the history of literary production and dissemination across the world for many centuries now. Books are proof of our existence in this world at a certain point in time and they mirror our inner selves. The Scribed series postures the artist as scribe and explores the intersection between drawing and writing, making the line a universal mode of expression. Palm leaf scrolls (an ancient book form in India) are used as a substrate and lines and patterns replace words and images in this work. The rhythm of mark making, the graceful or staccato line, the pattern inherent in repetition and the texture of the substrate, all work together to form a distinctive expression in each work. The palm leaf scrolls are then used as printing plates to form mirror images on paper. The two elements are inseparable in composition and are a reflection of each other- duality in dialogue.
As an artist living between two cultures, I find myself constantly translating. The Scribed series is part of recent work where I am exploring different aspects of language- script as form, legibility and illegibility. I ask the question- Is communication possible beyond and outside of our conventional understanding of language? What is the potential of breaking down the coding of text and making it non referential- beyond specificity and context?
Biography and introduction:
Raja migrated to this country twenty-five years ago from Hong Kong and India. She received her Bachelors in Fine Art from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and received her Masters in Fine Art from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.
Presently, Raja is an associate lecturer at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She is also a resident mentor at Redline Milwaukee, a community based arts laboratory. Raja has received many awards and has shown her work in various places in the US, S. Korea and India. Recently she received grants from the Wisconsin Arts Board and the Milwaukee Arts Board in support of an exhibition at Redline Milwaukee.
Irene Wibawa
Artist Statement
I take memories and experiences and materialize them into dioramas set in containers. Once I put them in the containers, they are no longer intangible; they are no longer thoughts, ideas, and memories that disappear or are forgotten. They are safe and protected. These depictions of successes, failures and everything in between are met with acceptance and judgment is non-existent. They remind me of where I come from and how I got to be where I am today. They remind me of my journey as an immigrant, carrying my ethnic Chinese Indonesian heritage to the United States, navigating a new landscape, a new culture, a new language and a new life. They remind me of who I am.
Biography and introduction:
Irene Wibawa began her fascination with dioramas in childhood while playing with Legos with her sister. While her sister became a civil engineer, Irene continues to explore the various forms of dioramas through her studies of plants and insects, leading to a degree in Plant Biology and employment at USDA. In her spare time, she enjoys discovering uncommon uses of common and discarded items to craft scenarios that first only existed in her imagination.
Artist Statement
I take memories and experiences and materialize them into dioramas set in containers. Once I put them in the containers, they are no longer intangible; they are no longer thoughts, ideas, and memories that disappear or are forgotten. They are safe and protected. These depictions of successes, failures and everything in between are met with acceptance and judgment is non-existent. They remind me of where I come from and how I got to be where I am today. They remind me of my journey as an immigrant, carrying my ethnic Chinese Indonesian heritage to the United States, navigating a new landscape, a new culture, a new language and a new life. They remind me of who I am.
Biography and introduction:
Irene Wibawa began her fascination with dioramas in childhood while playing with Legos with her sister. While her sister became a civil engineer, Irene continues to explore the various forms of dioramas through her studies of plants and insects, leading to a degree in Plant Biology and employment at USDA. In her spare time, she enjoys discovering uncommon uses of common and discarded items to craft scenarios that first only existed in her imagination.
Pallavi Sharma
Artist Statement
In my performances and installations by multiple aids I try to create channels to invoke ‘sense of freedom’ and understanding of the world I live in. It is not a mirror image of life, but an interpretation of my life and circumstances. In doing so, I feel independent, powerful, and more than anything else, I feel at home.
I use the elements of narrative in an experimental way to explore complex relations which have layers of meaning. It integrates my experiences and tries to open up a discourse about the process of naturalization. I do believe we all leave our mother’s womb, the prime, safe, secure home and immigrate to this world for a reason. The transition speaks about our life on the mother earth and how throughout our life we keep looking for a validation/ a stamped passport to be legal citizens of this world. In order to become homogeneous we live life on predetermined terms and conditions, bypassing the sole reason of immigration! Ironic as it sounds in the chaotic situations someone from inside our own body taps to remind us- “we came here with nothing and will be going empty handed, so why not to live with freedom and joy”.
Biography and introduction:
Born in India, Pallavi immigrated to USA in 1997. She received her BFA and MFA from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, India and her Ph.D. in Art History from India's National Museum Institute of History of Art and Conservation. She is a multidisciplinary artist and her research interest concerns Asian American women's cultural production, feminist pedagogy and activism.
She has exhibited her work nationally at various venues including the Queens Museum of Art, Aicon Gallery, NY, Bishop Museum, HI, and Women Made Gallery, IL, College of Integral Studies, CA. At present, she is a Board member of Asian American Women Artist Association (AAWAA) and founder and Director of ‘Inner Eye Art’ non-profit Art Organization based in San Ramon, CA.
Artist Statement
In my performances and installations by multiple aids I try to create channels to invoke ‘sense of freedom’ and understanding of the world I live in. It is not a mirror image of life, but an interpretation of my life and circumstances. In doing so, I feel independent, powerful, and more than anything else, I feel at home.
I use the elements of narrative in an experimental way to explore complex relations which have layers of meaning. It integrates my experiences and tries to open up a discourse about the process of naturalization. I do believe we all leave our mother’s womb, the prime, safe, secure home and immigrate to this world for a reason. The transition speaks about our life on the mother earth and how throughout our life we keep looking for a validation/ a stamped passport to be legal citizens of this world. In order to become homogeneous we live life on predetermined terms and conditions, bypassing the sole reason of immigration! Ironic as it sounds in the chaotic situations someone from inside our own body taps to remind us- “we came here with nothing and will be going empty handed, so why not to live with freedom and joy”.
Biography and introduction:
Born in India, Pallavi immigrated to USA in 1997. She received her BFA and MFA from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, India and her Ph.D. in Art History from India's National Museum Institute of History of Art and Conservation. She is a multidisciplinary artist and her research interest concerns Asian American women's cultural production, feminist pedagogy and activism.
She has exhibited her work nationally at various venues including the Queens Museum of Art, Aicon Gallery, NY, Bishop Museum, HI, and Women Made Gallery, IL, College of Integral Studies, CA. At present, she is a Board member of Asian American Women Artist Association (AAWAA) and founder and Director of ‘Inner Eye Art’ non-profit Art Organization based in San Ramon, CA.
