From now until September 22, the Japanese American National Museum is hosting Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter. This exhibit features the work of seven visual artists, including CYJO, Zhang Chun Hong, Hye Yeon Nam, Shizu Salamando, Roger Shimomura, Satomi Shirai, and Tam Tran. From charcoal scroll art to video self-portraits, these artists capture, expound, and further mystify the diversity of contemporary Asian American identities.
Me
If you haven’t noticed, I am Asian American. Although there were a few displays I could not relate to, and like in many contemporary art exhibits, cannot appreciate, the overall experience hit home. I especially took note of Nam’s four-part video self-portrait, Walking, Eating, Drinking, and Sitting. Rather than evaluating her work for production value, I examined her clips in relation to my own daily experiences. Although amusing at times, it reminded me of both the unintentional and self-constructed discomfort and confusion caused in part by my Asian American identity. In a country where categories are so important and race identity changes every time we update the national census, how do I situate myself in a way that includes my personal upbringing and the box I check for surveys, tests, and legal forms?
Growing up in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods, I felt the sting of the stigmatic title, “china (chee-na)” my entire life. I felt my “Asianness” and burned with misguided and silent estrangement. As a child, I wished and prayed for a new pair of eyes, honey brown hair, and an extra foot in height. I was embarrassed of my parent’s mannerisms, accents, and lifestyle. To me, Chinatown manifested the stench of being Asian.
Of course, as I grew older, I was exposed to more of the world and the people around me. I learned to embrace and share my ethnic, cultural, and personal uniqueness. Being a first generation Filipino in Los Angeles, I began to realize that I was no outsider–that my people and my neighbor’s people have more history and culture in common than we are taught in school, that there are many Filipinos in California, let alone those “other” Asians, and that Asian foods are delicious! To add to my identity reconstruction, I went to university and learned about Asian identity in the context of history, American culture, and campus life. I began critically piecing all the representations, stereotypes, and the reification of “Asianness” into the understanding of my own self.
Portraiture Now “demonstrates the nuances inherent to the Asian American experience (http://apanews.si.edu/2011/05/17/portraits-of-encounter/).” Whether you are Asian, Asian American, or are one to expand your knowledge, this exhibit is only one of the reasons to take a trip to this museum in Little Tokyo. Admission to the Japanese American National Museum is $9 for adults, $5 for seniors, students with I.D., and children 6-17. Admission is free to members and children 5 and under and to all visitors every Thursday from 5PM to 8PM and every third Thursday from 12PM to 8PM. Visitors receive a 10% discount at the Chado Tea Room next door with receipt.
To get here by Metro Rail:
- Take the Gold Line to Little Tokyo/Arts District Station
- Walk up 1st St.
- The museum will be on the right
Itty Bitty Gadabout 
