A Visual History of MSG Marketing by Shellie Zhang

Chromogenic Print, 2016 Artist Statement When first introduced, MSG was not the antagonized evil that it is often know as today. From the 1930s to late 1960s, MSG was commonly used in North America, often marketed under the brand “Accent” and advised to be used as another seasoning in addition to salt and pepper. As…

River Skins by Mary Chen

Steveston, British Columbia, 1907 Early morning wind cut across Aiko’s thin shawl and left her shivering. It was cold, here. Much more than home. “It warmed up last year by July,” her husband said. He was a tall, reedy man with a face like a garden left unattended. He slung an arm over her shoulder,…

Books for Breakfast, Láozāo, Pastries by Wenting Li

  Artist Statement As I was growing up, these are just a few of the things my mother introduced me to: chapter books, láozāo (a sweet, faintly alcoholic rice soup with glutinous rice balls), the dubious joy of black sesame paste, hua juan (twisted scallion buns) & egg tarts. I don’t think she quite anticipated…

China Man by Jeremy Au Yeung

Artist Statement The fortune cookie is a symbol that epitomizes the misrepresentation, misunderstanding and willful ignorance of Asian cultures by the collective Western society. An American invention, the fortune cookie was created out of the need to cater Chinese flavours to Western palates for the survival of Chinese immigrant-owned businesses, which were predominantly restricted to…

Five Signs by Michelle Jia

[ In response to A. Wong, ‘Do you love him?’ ]   I. ‘Magnetism’ not Love but Magnetism. Something Showing in those green-gold Eyes the Eyes Rimmed with Gold and flooding into Green. not Love but … ?escapism? like a garden hose Points her Blessed head to the sun. as Rainbow erupts the onset of…

Labeled Turbans by Jasmeet Sidhu

  Artist Statement “This series of work looks at internalized racism found in Punjabi culture that discriminates through the style of turban. Sikhs have famously been global targets of racism due to their dress code. However, there is a level of sub racism that occurs within the culture that discriminates each other by the style…

Sharanya to the Poet: A Cento by Sanchari Sur

And although my past is cluttered I have placed a carnation beside each of your knives, my own heart gaping open, mined. Though the fields are parched, my heart has its harvest. Day parts like a curtain. My changeling, I portmanteaued my life and waited so that the hooks in your mouth come without your…

Girl With Beautiful Eyes by Lucy Lu

  Artist Statement Girl with Beautiful Eyes is a look into the way our current culture idolizes beauty, technology, and exhibitionism. The project began with an exploration in the world of makeup, and the extent of women’s desire to be beautiful. All the images were taken from a previously made video dissecting a particularly niche…

Run, White Rabbit, Run by Janice Liu

Artist Statement Being in my 20s has sometimes felt like perpetually chasing a white rabbit. Sometimes I run to keep up with the achievements of my peers. Sometimes I run because I simply can’t stop to look back. This piece is a representation of my journey “down the rabbit hole”, into a foggy world of…

Thread Count by Jessie Sheng

  Artist Statement “Thread Count” is a durational sculpture that uses motorized embroidery thread to depict the passage of each real hour while simultaneously investigates various methods of measuring and defining time. Broadly speaking, we understand time to be objective in the sense that it persists with its own logic, irrespective of human thought and…