doing "doing nothing"
Hi readers, I hope you are having a peaceful and introspective end to your year. I’ve grown up in cold climates all my life, but this year I am *especially* appreciating winter as the time where the world is telling us to sloooow everything down, conserve our precious resources, and be very gentle with ourselves. I was reading about seed dormancy and how some seeds have evolved to not germinate until the absolute ideal conditions, which can help their survival in the wild - a nice lesson about waiting and surrender, and the wisdom to know that we can’t force our own flourishing if the conditions aren’t right. This also reminds me of my taichi teacher instructing us to practice “doing ‘doing nothing’”.
Throughout this year, I’ve been trying to learn what kinds of publicity/being public feels right for me. Promoting myself is one of the hardest things for me and sometimes I worry if my lack of online presence or self-promotion is holding me back. There is a little voice in my head that asks, if you aren’t continuously producing work in a public way, are you even an artist at all? One of my biggest lessons this year was learning that the myth of constant creative production is a big stinky lie fed to us by capitalism, and even our own internalized definitions of what it means to be “an Artist” is shaped by $$$ and the exploitation of creative workers. I’m trying to unlearn the pressure of having to perform Artist, while still nurturing my own hopes and dreams and trying not to become a hermit. I am sooooo grateful to this little newsletter community, for giving me an outlet to share my work that feels low-stakes, less transactional, and more freeing <3 thank you for reading this year!! I’m so thankful for you!!!
counting up the gratitude
I feel extremely blessed and lucky to be given so many opportunities to practice art this year: with my communities in Chinatown, with both new and long-standing collaborators, within institutions like MIT, the ICA and City Hall, and in the privacy of my own home and heart. A recap of some of the things I’ve been fortunate to work on this year:
Growing my animation muscle!!! And making a short film about the work of the Chinatown Community Land Trust, and animating a film inspired by “Everything Lies in Both Directions”, a poem by my friend Hua Xi
Producing a short film with the ICA during an interactive collaborative animation event this past month, which was part of an event celebrating the WBUR Makers (which I was very honored to be included in)
Illustrating the cover art for the beautiful song Cicada by my bestie Anju
Having Washing featured in many places, including the BPL Leventhan Map Center’s More or Less in Common exhibit about environmental justice
Teaching lots of fun workshops around Chinatown, especially this amazing workshop series at Boston Public Library Chinatown branch, with my friend and amazing collaborator Maria Fong, where we worked with youth and adults to turn their feelings into stop motion puppets
Starting the Boston Artist in Residence program, lots of seeds germinating and excited for those to blossom soon 🌷🌷
Finishing my Master’s program 💀 and writing a thesis about “Art, Repair, and Spatial Justice in Boston’s Chinatown and Seattle’s International District” - happy to share if anyone wants to read a 60 page academic text LOL
I feel immensely grateful to all the friends, loved ones, collaborators, creative partners, teachers, organizers, org staff, and other amazing people who have supported me, taught me, been patient with me, and extended their time and energy with me this year. Thank you, love you <3
things i’ll be doing for the rest of the year
Nothing
Finishing The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Hanging out with my mom
*inspired by Carol Zou’s solstice newsletter, where they inspired me to do nothing also
hopes for next year
I’m proud of myself for experimenting, trying new things, nurturing new relationships, healing old wounds, and staying sane this year. Next year, I only have a few simple hopes:
Visit a hot spring
Do animation work for a live performance or music video (!!)
Get to go to an artist residency where I get to make site specific shadow puppets
Learn about flower arranging
final thoughts/feelings/recommendations
This article about the decline of artists from working class backgrounds, a reminder for all of us in creative spaces to join the movement for the rights, dignity, and flourishing of working people and fight for more accessible artistic spaces/funding/the general downfall of capitalism
I’m really enjoying the Normal Gossip podcast lately…cuz I love gossip!! Lmk if you have any other good and juicy podcast recs that you’ve been enjoying.
I really loved making winter melon and meatball soup on the solstice. Here’s a similar recipe to what I did.
Curry Rice by Kenji Endo is a nice warm tune to end the year on <3