There Was So Much Silence Growing Up…: Artistic Interventions of Tomie Arai and Flo Oy Wong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This essay explores the specific artworks of Asian American artists Tomie Arai and Flo Oy Wong as complex articulations between culture, identity, history, and memory. Based on oral history interviews that were integral parts of their artistic processes, Arai and Wong created works that explored the family histories and memories of Asian immigrants and Asian Americans living in New York City’s Chinatown and California. Their artworks open up a space to explore memory as a way of knowing that is shaped not only by what is said, but more importantly by what is not said—by silences and secrets.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)217-237
Number of pages21
JournalAsian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas
Volume6
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021

Keywords

  • Asian America
  • contemporary art
  • family histories
  • Flo Oy Wong
  • memory studies
  • oral history
  • silence
  • Tomie Arai

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Visual Arts and Performing Arts
  • Linguistics and Language

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