about
I am a 4th/5th generation Chinese and Japanese American working in Portland, OR. Given the prevalence of historical and ongoing race-based displacement and community separation,themes of community, resilience and loss often come up for me in explorations of space and stakeholdership. I wonder about the capacity for art to engage and create stakeholders, to actively involve people in repair and visionary thinking.
I have worked in education for over 18 years. In the past 8 years I have worked as a classroom teacher in a public school facilitating a teen digital media think tank and skill building program with an emphasis on cultivating a critical social justice lens. The program aims to equip young people with media skills to create positive change and participate in visual culture. In 2015, we built a screen printing studio that now trains over 120 youth printers a year. Creating opportunities for young people to express their visions and engage and community members is of great importance in my work as an artist.
As a classroom teacher I have the opportunity to closely study engagement. Of great interest to me as an artist that often works with people is, what does profound engagement in a project look like? What structures must exist or should be pliable to invite authentic engagement? How might invitations to engage, exclude? As compliance is a frequently-utilized tool in both schools and community-arts practices, engagement is a study I approach with a lot of curiosity, worry and intention.