OPEN FLOWERS BEAR FRUIT is an on-going project that claims space for Asian diaspora cultural history by opening an overdue dialogue between Eurocentric-dominated art spaces and Asian diaspora experiences.
開花, ‘open flower,’ is a Chinese phrase (also borrowed into Korean and Japanese) that means literally, ‘to bloom,’ and figuratively, ‘to succeed.’ This exhibition takes excerpts from the series that speak to the cross-cutting of culture, commerce, and art in Asian, European, and American histories. They celebrate the exuberance of the resulting Asian American experience, and in doing so, appear defiant to the reminders of mortality so present in the Dutch still life paintings that the images mimic. The pieces also feature foods and items significant to Asian diaspora communities and collaborations with AAPI creators—these partnerships present perspectives and lived experiences from the numerous heritages that feed the otherwise monolithic label of “Asian American.”
開花, ‘open flower,’ is a Chinese phrase (also borrowed into Korean and Japanese) that means literally, ‘to bloom,’ and figuratively, ‘to succeed.’ This exhibition takes excerpts from the series that speak to the cross-cutting of culture, commerce, and art in Asian, European, and American histories. They celebrate the exuberance of the resulting Asian American experience, and in doing so, appear defiant to the reminders of mortality so present in the Dutch still life paintings that the images mimic. The pieces also feature foods and items significant to Asian diaspora communities and collaborations with AAPI creators—these partnerships present perspectives and lived experiences from the numerous heritages that feed the otherwise monolithic label of “Asian American.”