Art
Unraveling the Perfectionism of Christmas, Ballet, and ‘The Nutcracker’
I aged out of leotards and ballet—not perfectionism. But tight buns suck. And so do tightly scripted holidays.
Why Do We Only Value Artists Once They’re Dead?
It is hard not to see that the conditions in which an entity like ‘Immersive Van Gogh’ thrives are the same as those that devalue and exploit the labor of living artists.
Unlearning the Colonial Gaze in Southeast Asian Art
Southeast Asia is a colonial construct, a modern concoction brewed from the dregs of centuries-long imperial conquest.
Why Create Art When No One Will See It?
Fritz Kistel was a reclusive artist who produced a body of work so fabulously unproductive—in the capitalist sense—that I can’t help but admire him: He created for himself.
Tiny Stitches for Big Feelings
It’s difficult to enter an anxiety spiral while cross-stitching. Believe me, I’ve tried.
The Radical Possibilities of Virtual Theater
When stage shows went virtual, traditional directors declared that the form was “dead.” They are extremely wrong.
Why Bathing Is More Than Self-Care—It’s Art
To be female and to bathe is to always be prepared for onlookers.
Searching for My Indian American Life in Contemporary Art
In art, I was seeing the world. Yet, the entire time, I could not name a single Indian artist in my family’s homeland.
“What Are You?”: On Mixed-Race Identity and ‘The Buddhist Bug’
Yet, my same racial mutability also poses a threat: “How can you identify a ‘them’ if it can pass for an ‘us’?”
Unlearning the Whiteness of Academic Art History
In Taipei, my disengagement with the silk scrolls wasn’t random. It was learned.