30 May 2020 Minneapolis (History Glitch)
Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta 315gsm
21 x 29.7 cm
2020
I am a British-born Chinese artist who believes in bearing witness to our histories by making art. In these extraordinary times, our lives are profoundly transformed and offer a focal point for positive change. Making art about our histories is to mark it as a moment to understand its roots of how it came to be, its current emotive power and responding to what future we might want.
"China Virus" is a name propagated by the Trump administration in reference to COVID-19 that stokes anti-Chinese racism, spiking hate crimes against Asians. History has shown us the dehumanising dangers of fascist leaders who racialise viruses for political gains. The diseases and leaders are different, but we have been here before.
I watched in horror, like many others around the world, the indiscriminate killing of George Floyd who became the current 2019/2020 pinnacle of over 1400 killings of mostly poor people of colour per year by US police. Along with the surreal mishandling of the pandemic by the richest and most powerful nation in the world, it has shown us a broken system. Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve printed trillions of dollars and anonymously gave it to corporations to artificially skyrocket their own stock prices despite record unemployment rates beyond those of the Great Depression. It's an unprecedented transfer of wealth to the upper echelons of society and dilution of purchasing power for the poor. It is unsurprising to see the tinder of anxiety explode into flames of protests.
100% of proceeds will go to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund.