Dependence is part of being a community artist. We don’t create in a vacuum. If you see yourself as dependent upon others, you will develop an appreciation and humbleness toward them, for without them you can’t do the work you do. You see that they need you, too, in order to do the work they do. There is a mutual dependence, an interdependence that is at the heart of who we are as a community – we need one another and we work together to bring forth into the world beauty and positive affirmations, to build solidarity so we can fight injustices, to discover our commonality so we can live together harmoniously on this planet. Activism starts with individuals and organizations that understand this interconnectedness between them and the world around them. It’s a reciprocal relationship.

That is what I’ve been trying to do for the last 35 years – working with different groups to give voice to their hopes and dreams, to express their plight and their resilience, and to build community across cultures and generations.

INSPIRATION

The community inspires me, feeds my art. The vibrancy of neighborhoods, the colors, music, dance, poetry, celebrations, the friendship and support, the down-to-earthiness of the people, the struggles and how we bond together because of our common oppression, the joyful resilience of communities, the outrage we feel when wronged.

My art and the orgs that I choose to work for take into account all the different aspects that make up both the public and the private me - as mother (although some of the images that I created of mother and child came before I became a mother - it's more the nurturer in me), as activist, as dancer and lover of life, as community builder, as writer, as a shy demure person, as a sad person with longings to take flight, even as a theater person - all aspects of me real and fantasized are in the artwork. Yet these feelings and roles are universal, so many of the posters also speak for a collective community. Since women everywhere have similar yearnings, the depictions resonate with them, especially women of color. They then take on an iconic role and become a universal symbol.

INFLUENCES

Artistically my work was informed by Matisse (especially his cutouts but also his drawings) and also old Japanese prints, especially the floating world prints. Several Japanese artists influenced my work - Tadanori Yokoo and Koichi Sato, to name a couple. Emotionally I was influenced by Kathe Kollwitz, Georgia O'Keefe, and the great muralist, Siqueros for his dynamic gestures.

Other influences include the Chicano muralist movement and artists from the Mission district, like Juan Fuentes and Rupert Garcia. Also Rene Castro and Jos Sances from Mission Grafica - they taught me a lot about art and politics and they taught me how to really silkscreen (I was self taught and learned the rudiments at KSW).  I lived in the Mission when I first moved here and met a group of strong Latina artists. I was influenced by the strong bright colors of the Mission art, and the sense of community, and the use of symbols, ancient and modern. Interestingly, I move very easily among communities - my art has been shown in Filipino, Japanese, and Latino art shows and panel discussions, often the only one of a different ethnicity there.

THE PROCESS

I mostly use single images in my work, to have a single image express emotions. I have a process I call “cherchez l’image”….. I try to ask the piece of paper what it wants to be, as opposed to me having a fixed idea in my head of what I am going to do. But that’s easier said than done. Most of the time, I do it the reverse way. I have an idea of what I am going to do, and then I try and I try and somehow it doesn’t come out right. Then I get frustrated and panicky and give up. Finally I relax and ask the paper what it wants to be. Then the image comes to me. I sketch it on paper; then erase most of it. Then I use the exacto knife to cut out the lines.

SEARCH FOR SELF

When I was growing up, I was not encouraged to be an artist. We never had a crayon in the house. My parents were not too keen on art because they didn’t know how I would make a living from it. They were very poor, hardworking folks who didn’t understand the art world, viewing artists and performers as persons of loose moral values. So I majored in visual communications and started out as a graphic designer and illustrator, just to show them that I could support myself through my art – they were respectable art forms. I was a lonely child, who had to take care of my two younger brothers. I hardly went anywhere or did any of the fun things that my classmates would do. But I had a rich inner world of my imagination, which manifested in poetry, storytelling, and art.

ACTIVISM

To me activism grows out of a deep compassionate love for all people. Something triggers your heart. For me it was seeing a lot of body bags from Vietnam and Cambodia on TV, seeing that the people my country was killing looked a lot like me, and have cultural similarities with me. My heart insisted that I try to do something about it. I joined Asian American contingents to protest the Vietnam War, and in the process I met a variety of people. I found a niche where I could use my skills – in cultural work.

For a lot of us, the values of those early movement years informed our choices for the rest of our lives, even though we each went a slightly different direction based on our unique experiences. Throughout my life I’ve followed my passions, listening to what my heart insists upon, and expressing it with my art and my writing.