Upon Further Reflection
May 2023
NYCxDesign, NYC, U.S.A
Upon Further Reflection is a May 2023 NYCxDesign exhibition co-curated by Lora Appleton (Female Design Council/kinder MODERN) + Andrea Hill (Tortuga Forma) featuring both lauded and emerging AAPI, female-identified artists & designers of all backgrounds, acknowledging the diversity within the Asian community; the differences and beauty within. Focusing on female-identified makers is intended to continue to provide a platform to the often under looked magic and fierce reflection of this prolific community. We thank the AAPI Design Alliance and Female Design Council for supporting this much needed conversation.
Participating Artists & Designers:
Ti Chang, Caroline Chao, Windy Chien, Jane Yang-D’Haene, Wu Hanyen, Teruko Kushi, Jean Lee, Rosie Li, Lynn Lin, Bowen Liu, Susan Maddux, Moving Mountains, Pooja Pawaskar, Jean Pelle, Ellen Pong, Tina Scepanovic, Urvi Sharma, Virginia Sin, Soft Geometry, Jialun Xiong
A dynamic mix of AAPI female-identified designers have been invited to participate in this important exhibition during NYCxDesign 2023 to both challenge and address the ideas of reflection through surface exploration, materiality, and self discovery.
Early Bronze Age culture saw mirrors made of bronze in Southeast Asia, creating an assemblage of cultural and geographical reflecting points; later glass became a prime material used for mirrors at the start of the Han Dynasty. Mirrors have a history of being regarded as sacred objects having magical powers. They were used similarly as today but traded as tokens of affection, symbols of alliances between states, used in religious rituals, and as burial objects. Mirrors were and are powerful objects that could shift the energy in a room, a belief that continues to resonate in the practice of feng shui. Today, mirrors continue to have optical power as they play with our perceptions of body and space. A quick glance in the mirror reaffirms our sense of self and can often reflect one's anxiety, fears, self distortion, and dysmorphia. At times one can see a mirage rather than a 'mirror' of our reflection; a distorted reality.
Self reflection is a key part of what is needed to grow as a human, a creative, a community member. Seeing reflections of self within others is also critical to growth within one's career or craft; believing you can achieve what you see if only you can see it in yourself. Self reflection under the AAPI umbrella projects a blur asking the questions; how do I see myself; how do I see others; how do others see me? This charged concept of mirroring and reflection is of endless fascination, and especially for the AAPI community, who has struggled to be seen within the historically white-centric United States of America.
