By Pete Dulin, NAAAP-KC
Work by Michelle Chan will be displayed as part of Charlotte Street's Crossroads Artboards program from July through September of 2023. The billboard will feature photographs by Jeff Tamblyn of Chan’s costume pieces that she created as a Charlotte Street Foundation resident.
Last summer, three of Chan’s fiber-based works were featured in the NAAAP-KC group show “I Am” at ArtsKC. The works included a flag quilt titled “Compromise(D)” and two collars titled “Free Hong Kong” and “Tiger Mom.”
The 2023-2024 Artboards (125 Southwest Blvd.) feature eight different works by various artists for three months each on the exterior, double-sided billboards. Grace Suh is one of the other artists participating in the Artboard program.
Chan was born and raised with her younger brother in Overland Park, Kansas, by two Hong Kongese immigrant parents. “My parents weren’t sure of what an ‘American upbringing’ was but they did their best to give my family just that,” says Chan. “They nourished and supported talents in the arts and my costuming hobby that ultimately pointed my path to majoring in Fibers during college.”
Chan shares more details about her artwork and exploration of identity in our NAAAP-KC interview.
Tell us about the theme and message behind your work in the 2022 “I Am” exhibition.
My work is influenced by my Chinese American upbringing and analyzing the cultural issues arising from the interplay between the East and the West. Predominantly, I tackle objects that are considered consumer items that affect people's daily lives within a culture like toys, cartoons, snacks, and clothes. These are commonly approachable items and I see this as a space where I can speak about the conflicts between cultures in a more contemplative way.
In the last several years, our world has grown more polarizing which I find makes it more difficult for folks existing in between. Growing up, I was always lumped into being too Asian by American peers, or too American by the Asian community. I’ve come a long way in accepting myself and negotiating my space but for others it is still a challenge.
I created this quilted flag called “Compromise(D)” to express that internal struggle along with the struggle our own country is currently facing. This flag was meticulously cut and put back together, revealing an obscured U.S. flag. When we have to decide to compromise our values, what are we losing and relinquishing with that choice? Often compromise is framed with optimism. However in this instance how many of our freedoms are we taking for granted and what will they look like after the transformative process of compromise?
My other two wearable pieces “Free Hong Kong” and “ Tiger Mom” are homages to my family. “ Free Hong Kong” tackles the fine line that defines freedom. Having been born in America, I would have never imagined seeing the loss of freedoms that extended family back at home have had to endure. It really shined a light on why it was powerful for America to enshrine those values. Giving “Freedom of Speech” and the right to “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” a weight that I don’t think a lot of Americans really understand until they don’t have them.
My second collar “Tiger Mom” tackles the negative connotation with Asian mothers being known as oppressive overbearing mothers. My mom has always been my biggest advocate in my interests and artistic pursuits. Asian cultural values being “toxic” and Asian parental love is often misunderstood and skewed.
Having to contend and communicate more with my mom as an adult, I’ve come to understand her values and her perspectives. This emotional area has been one of my most gratifying moments of growth for our relationship. Realizing that to dismiss her version of love just because it doesn’t fit with my Americanized self-actualization definition of love is not fair. Learning to communicate with the older generation and bridging the societal, cultural value gaps is where we will see progress within the Asian community.
For the Artboards, your entry is about your “identity being between Asian and American and the conflicts of tradition vs new.” Would you share some details about this artwork?
Photographer Jeff Tamblyn documented my existing costume pieces for the Artboards. I made these pieces during my time at the Charlotte Street Residency. The Artboard images are a dual image of me wearing a hand-beaded hybridization between a Chinese Emperor crown and a Western cowboy hat. One of them is me facing forward with the beaded curtain obscuring my face, while the other one is of me turning away with the beads trailing behind implying that I am lingering on the past.
There is conflict and dispute over “assimilating” and modernizing versus retaining one's culture and traditions. I often have peers that don’t understand that there are certain benefits of assimilation and that I not only feel that judgment from them but also from my own family too.
Trying to figure out how to retain two sets of cultural values that often do not have a clean way of fitting into each other. When speaking to my father about it, he understands that there are certain “old ways” that aren’t applicable here but hopes that me and my sibling will be able to piece out what to retain from their teachings moving forward into the future. So I see these boards as my way of being open to both major cultural influences of my upbringing and synthesizing something new.
How do you feel about your work being displayed on a massive scale (27x12.4 feet) and publicly visible for months?
I can’t help but feel a little nervous because it’s an image of me (albeit) obscured by the hat’s beaded curtain. Jeff and I discussed how these particular images were very reminiscent of an ad model looking mysteriously at the viewer, but that it’s peculiar in that there isn’t a clearly marketed product. Overall it is extremely exciting to explore our interests in the commercial arts imagery with it being a little different from what we usually make in our regular studios.
How does your identity play a role as a motivating force to explore it creatively?
My identity is made up of my upbringing and experiences. My art practice is a place where I dissect those experiences and find out how those pieces function and influence who I am. Quite often I don’t even think about my identity/ influences when making work. My creative process is making the object and then analyzing it afterwards to notice bits of my identity interlaced into it. So I would say that identity is more the result of the creative work rather than what is the motivator for it.
How does conflict factor into the work? Internal, external, or both?
The conflict that I speak about in my work usually starts with external events but then my internal feelings and thoughts that result from them. When I am trying to reconcile those differences and translating my thought process of the situation through art to viewers. I have been told quite frequently that my practice revolves around serious issues but then I express through a tone of camp/humor. I assume that it is because my brain is trying to make sense of something that is highly uncomfortable through absurdity to make it more digestible.
Why did you create this work about identity and conflict?
I think more often when people only see identity work as a means of celebration, they feel good about the representation and call it a day. What I hope and seek to respond to in my work is to clarify to viewers the feelings of being judged for surface immutable traits, and the helplessness that it creates.
This particular work is vulnerable in that it tackles my insecurity of having to be constantly asked how Asian or how American I am. Honestly, who cares. I ask “why is it important that I display and perform those cultural things to you?” Ultimately what I want is that someday we can live up to being a country where people can be who and what they want to be without the superficial pressures and pats on the back to do so.
What inspired you to apply for the Artboards opportunity?
I’ve known about the Artboards opportunity from Charlotte Street for years now but never thought I had the kind of material that would make a good billboard. My joke to all my friends or other creatives that create awe inspiring things is, “ I majored in the wrong major,” wishing I had the skill to do what they do.
In reality, we obviously can’t be a jack-of-all-trades. I ended up striking up a friendship and collaboration with Jeff Tamblyn. We got to know each other's work and had a photo documentation day and ended up with the images that we submitted! My advice to others is don’t wait until you can do everything but seek out others that share that passion and figure out how to do that dream project.
How does Jeff Tamblyn play a role in the artwork?
I primarily approach art as an object maker and think about how pieces sit in a gallery setting. I found that the documentation of the work is where those messages start to take shape and life. I met Jeff through the Artist INC program run by Mid America’s Art Alliance. When I first saw his motion blur photography I was captured by the nostalgic and haunting qualities his images possessed. A few months after that our schedules lined up and we were able to combine our two talents together.