2021
In 1982, Vincent Chin was beaten to death by a baseball bat in Detroit. His murder sparked immense outrage towards racially-motivated hate crimes and now marks the beginning of the human rights movement for Asian immigrants. Forty years later, discrimination against the Asian population is an ongoing social issue that peaked during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Feeling indignant with the brutality of hate crimes that persist against Asian communities, I started collecting the names and portraits of the victims of anti-Asian hate crimes as well as historical propaganda posters that became a part of my home decor and interior setting. My intimate, personal, and private spaces were confronted with this hateful history and my daily life became a commemorative ritual. The unsettling discomfort permeating through these photographs serves as a reminder that anti-Asian racism is a collective trauma that Asian communities experience, subconsciously, on a daily basis.
Featured in Nostalgia: in search of familiarity exhibition at Remote Gallery, Toronto for Asian Heritage Month in 2022