Identity

I work between performance, 3D animation, experimental video, and electronic music. I am highly influenced by Shanghai's underground electronic music culture and clubs, and the queer communities that participate in these spaces, and the localization and decolonization of the westernized definition of queer in Chinese clubs. Through post-club aesthetics, my works present the duality of visibility of the Chinese queer identity in the clubs and the simulation of physical and virtual spaces for the Chinese queer community. My works hone in on the meaning of public space for Chinese queer people and how dance parties can shelter their queerness from the Confucianism tradition value that less supports non-mainstream ideologies and non-heterosexuality. In this paper, I explore how post-club aesthetics influence the Chinese underground club scene, the queer culture within Chinese politics, the Chinese definition of queerness, and the post-club methods of creating spaces to make queer identities visible and redefining the public space. I investigate these topics with my selected works to research how the post-club aesthetic functions in my visual language, and to examine and support my argument of why I choose the performance, electronic music, video art, and virtual reality to gain queer visibility by creating post-club experiences.

I use my art practice to express the dualities, issues, questions, feelings and conflicts of a bi-national, bi-culture, and bi-language woman identity - pain, belonging, struggles, cultural loss, self-esteem, acceptance, and inclusion. My practice transports the audience into the experience of being in my world - emotionally and physically - by utilizing Painting, Installation, Sculpture, and Photography. This is portrayed by using elements such as body language, facial expressions, objects, shadows, and nature. My use of iconography is important to represent both the Mexican and American cultures, inspired by the symbolic metaphors of Frida Kahlo. My depiction of dualities is influenced by Cindy Sherman and Ana Mendieta. The colors used in the work reference the national flags, culture and emotions. The materials, such as tissue paper and paper mache, interpret the Mexican handicraft and piñatas, and chicken wire and wire fences relates to the barbed wire and fence of the U.S. and Mexico border. In the U.S., some of these issues are shared between the Chicanx, Latinx, immigrants, women, and minority communities. My work, as well as this paper, decolonizes art and is made to represent the people that resonate with it.

Metaphors always convey meaning to people beyond what people see. Interpreting the meaning of metaphors and discussing the value of metaphors used in design and illustration is the core of my thesis. To understand why people can read a symbol meaning more than it is the goal of this thesis. There are several examples listed to discuss how a visual image conveys meaning, such as commercial Logo applied in the public, gang's symbol hidden in history, and the structure of famous paintings used in the illustration. I take the structure of Matisse's works named The dance as an example to illustrate why it has been frequently used as a metaphor in many illustrations that symbolized the struggle of life. My works influenced by modernism use as simple as possible elements to express my thoughts. And due to my Asian identity, I prefer to express my personal opinion secretly. Animals, fruits, and nature in my works symbolized different things or people in my life. Thus, to express meaning efficiently and secretly, considering how to arrange these components is the main part of my methodology.