SAM ROXAS-CHUA 姚 51 NOTE: Flower Script and Stone Script are a pair with an accompanying poem. THE MYTH OF PERFUME GARDENS AND THE BLACK MARBLE EYES OF A KOMODO DRAGON There’s a particular trail in the hills of Astoria where the signature of herbs and flowers permeate a small patch of clearing on the way to deeper bends in the woods. Locals say the scent comes from the garden beds once owned by the Chinese that used lived there. I searched for this trail and found nothing. I wanted to believe in such wild stories that I picked up a flower and a stone close to the trail and asked it to tell me, in its own silent language of Fall & Storm about what it knew. Somewhere in the script of flower and stone is the truth. Somewhere someone knows what happened to the one Komodo dragon that once roamed these hills. Somewhere someone is searching for a memory only perfume can provide. Flower Script, 2022. Flower on rice paper scroll; flower from Astoria, Oregon, dipped in ink to create its own script, 9ft x 8.5in. Stone Script, 2022. Ink on white paper; stone from Astoria, Oregon, dipped in ink then twisted onto paper to create a script, 30in x 14in.
52 ILLUMINATING TIME
SAM ROXAS-CHUA 姚 53
5 4 ILLUMINATING TIME It’s out of luck that I find myself in places where I find two soles that fit a dream about walking in a forest where I am picking and eating fruits in the shape of shoes I once wore. When I was a boy, I purposefully scuffed my shoes to spell my name on the floor with its dark rubber to say, I’m here. I’d too would like to be someone and be driven around sides of mountains where I can press my ears and listen to distant cousins find light inside the gold in all of us. And here I wrote a scroll with a girl wishing for the day she would fly with her drawn butterflies. “Is this what art is?” she asked. And I said we will have to wait until the sky tells us to find the little tears embedded in our joys. It’s there that art will reveal itself as vapor on metal or as a door and chimney on ceramic container of soy. It is then that art will say, I’ve been looking for you, I’ve been living inside the tiny bones inside your ears and as history embedded in your walls. So we must keep listening, I told her. We must keep listening. A REASON TO GATHER AROUND PAPER For Madison Noggle Instead of captions for this installation, I hand wrote a poem that tells a better story of my journeys all over Oregon with the archaeologists. A Reason to Gather Around Paper
SAM ROXAS-CHUA 姚 55 Hand in Water Columbus River at Night – Dalles, Oregon What the Mountains Heard Same Songs Then, Same Songs Now – Descendant of Birds
5 6 ILLUMINATING TIME TWO POSSIBILITIES FOR TENDERNESS It’s not often I ask to turn the kettle on. These days of dark of shapes and sharp corners, these days away from you and your soft skin around the pulse of you. I point a fingertip to the ground and you said: “Yes, bury me there too. Not too far, not too close but just enough air to pass through us—like time illuminating medicine bottles in the corner of our rooms. Windows will find ways to let the light in. Divinations come through the walls. The following poem accompanies two asemic pieces inspired by a divination inscription on a wall at the Kam Wah Chung Building in John Day, Oregon.
SAM ROXAS-CHUA 姚 57 Two Possibilities for Tenderness, 2022. 25in x 18.5in lasercut asemic calligraphy with backing; 12in x 23in framed photo; 20in x 13in lasercut asemic calligraphy with backing, overall 33in x 4ft.
5 8 ILLUMINATING TIME Detail, Right Here, right here. Right Here, right here, 2022. Two-piece calligraphy inspired by conversation with Liisa Penner, archivist at Astoria, Oregon. Soot
SAM ROXAS-CHUA 姚 59 SIX VIDEOS BY SAM ROXAS-CHUA (Total running time: 7 minutes 15 seconds) Video 1 - Spontaneous surprise visit by Chinese opera Singer Zhang Luzhen who saw scrolls I hadn’t taken down after an exhibit at a gallery in Moscow, Idaho. I invited him to sing because he said he was moved by the video. (Approximately: 2 minutes) Video 2 - Making ink, calligraphy. (Approximately: 2 minutes) Video 3 - Gathering soot from a flue at Wing Hong Hai Co. Building which used to be a Chinese laundry. (Approximately: 45 seconds) Video 4 - Kam Wah Chung - Ambient sound and birds. (Approximately: 30 seconds) Video 5 - “Touch” - Asemic calligraphy process. (Approximately:1 minute) Video 6 - “Mother Ink” - Asemic calligraphy process with inks I gathered from ingredients my mother used to cook with. This also included scratched-off metals from her pots and pans which were added into the silver ink. (Approximately: 1 minute 15 seconds)
6 0 ILLUMINATING TIME Alex Chiu Four Oceans, One Family, 2022. Acrylic on interior drywall, 14 x 30 ft.
ALEX CHIU 61 Alex Chiu
62 ILLUMINATING TIME
ALEX CHIU 63 Over the past few years, I have been trying to understand my identity as a ChineseAmerican person. In 2017-2021, we experienced one of the most divisive presidents that I have witnessed in my lifetime. Almost every minority group in the country was negatively targeted and blamed for the problems of the country. In 2020, we experienced a global pandemic that disrupted all human activity and was responsible for millions of deaths. The Chinese were targeted and blamed for being the source of the pandemic, which led to widespread anti-Asian hate-crimes throughout the country. My ethnicity and culture were put on the forefront of my mind as I established my career as an artist in Portland, Oregon. It was on my mind as I became a father of two daughters, now ages 4 & 8. All I want is for my daughters to belong and not be discriminated against. I want the best life for them here in the Pacific Northwest. In the last few years, I have established myself as a muralist. I have created many large scale public art pieces celebrating communities of color in the Portland area. This is my form of protest. My resistance is celebration. I want to celebrate who we are as individuals so that others can get to know us and recognize our role as important community members, not as political enemies. The Portland Chinese Community Portrait Series is a celebration of individuals of the Chinese Diaspora currently living in Portland, Oregon. Featured in this series are portraits of individuals that I have gotten to know for this project. Some of them I have only recently connected with through my research of Portland’s Chinatown / Old Town community. Others are good friends of mine who have supported me and my family throughout our time here in this city. For this project, they have given me their time and allowed me to hear their stories. They’ve also given me permission to tell their stories and paint their portraits for this exhibit. I am truly grateful for their trust and support. I hope this project uplifts them and highlights their legacies as part of Portland’s Chinese/Chinese American community. Note: All descriptions and writings in this chapter by artist Alex Chiu. ARTIST STATEMENT On one side of the Portland Chinatown Gate, the sign reads, “四海⼀家.” This translates to “Four Oceans, One Family,” giving me hope that in a land that does not always welcome those of my ancestry or those who look like me, we still have a home and family here.
6 4 ILLUMINATING TIME ALEX CHIU ON FOUR OCEANS, ONE FAMILY The mural depicts one side of the Portland Chinatown Gate from a low-angle perspective. The Chinese phrase, read from right to left, translates to “four oceans, one family.” As a non-native Portlander, this phrase means a lot to me. I’ve been in Portland for 10 years now. In general there is an anti-Californian sentiment in the city. It is hard to escape the question, “Where are you originally from?” This tends to be a question of white supremacy in my opinion, where non-whites are put into categories of perpetual foreigners. I feel very uncomfortable whenever dealing with this question. This phrase, “four oceans, one family” gives me the hope of belonging. It communicates to me that people of Chinese descent have a place in Portland. It is a phrase of comfort to people in search of a new home. The residency itself is my deliberate attempt to connect with the Chinese/Chinese American community in Portland. My focus was to have conversations with individuals of Chinese descent to learn about their history and hear their stories. The goal for me was to build relationships with people who share my ethnic background in hopes of learning more about myself. I learned a lot in the process and feel like I accomplished the goal that I set for myself. The mural is painted directly on the wall using watered down Novacolor black acrylic paint. It was painted using large- and medium-sized Chinese calligraphy brushes. The Chinatown Gateway is located at the intersection of West Burnside Street and Northwest 4th Avenue. It serves as the entrance to Portland’s Old Town Chinatown neighborhood. The Gateway was built in 1986 by the Oregon Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association.
ALEX CHIU 65 Photograph study of the Portland Chinatown gate for Four Oceans, One Family.
6 6 ILLUMINATING TIME HER NAME IS BETTY Alex: As we began to install the exhibition, Sam and I were tasked with figuring out how to lay out our work within the lobby of the museum. Because some of my own work would be displayed next to Sam’s work, we discussed having me paint a mural in response to Sam’s work in order to create a seamless transition between my exhibit and his. I asked Sam what I should paint. At some point in the conversation, he described one of his installation pieces with his asemic writing that hung from the roof and touched the ground. He explained to me that after his mother had passed, he gathered his Mother’s cooking ingredients and created a golden ink that he used to paint the piece with. After learning this I decided to paint a portrait of his mother to accompany his installation. This would be our collaboration for the exhibition. At one point, as I was painting the portrait, Sam said out loud, “Her name is Betty.” This inspired the title of the mural. The mural is painted directly on the wall using watered down Novacolor black acrylic paint. It was painted using large- and medium-sized Chinese calligraphy brushes. Her Name is Betty; Portrait of Sam Roxas-Chua’s Mother, Betty Roxas-Chua, 2022. Acrylic on interior drywall, 8ft x 8ft.
ALEX CHIU 67 THE PORTLAND CHINESE COMMUNITY PORTRAIT SERIES
6 8 ILLUMINATING TIME Four Ocean, One Family Zine Cover, 2022. Zine/booklet of all the portraits painted for the Portland Chinese Community Portrait Series including artist statement, essays describing each person and artist's relationship with them, 44 pages, 8.5 in x 5.5 in. Portrait essays reproduced on pages 89-95. The Portland Chinese Community Portrait Series, 2022. Twenty (20) ink portraits with essays achieved after interviews, photo studies and gift exchanges; design and publication of 'zine, with copies provided during the exhibition for visitors to take home.
ALEX CHIU 69 Norman Locke
70 ILLUMINATING TIME Sarah Chung
ALEX CHIU 7 1 Glenn Chin
7 2 ILLUMINATING TIME Kitty Kong
ALEX CHIU 7 3 Nick Lee
74 ILLUMINATING TIME Jennie Shen
ALEX CHIU 7 5 Billy Lee
76 ILLUMINATING TIME Tommy Ly
ALEX CHIU 7 7 Beverly and Clifford Liu
78 ILLUMINATING TIME Terry Lee
ALEX CHIU 79 Beatrix Li
8 0 ILLUMINATING TIME Roberta Wong
ALEX CHIU 81 Michi Cheung
82 ILLUMINATING TIME Jason Leivian
ALEX CHIU 83 Jen Tam
8 4 ILLUMINATING TIME Helen Ying
ALEX CHIU 85 Neil Lee
8 6 ILLUMINATING TIME Maiyee Yuan
ALEX CHIU 87 Horatio Law
8 8 ILLUMINATING TIME Betty Jean Lee
ALEX CHIU 8 9 Norman Locke Norman Locke is a fourth generation ChineseAmerican and CEO of the Columbia Coin Company. He was a founder of both the Chinatown Museum as well as the Lan Su Chinese Garden. He was a former chair of the Portland Building Corporation and a Trustee of the Portland Art Museum. He also participated in the renovation of the Portland City Hall Building. I had a long in person conversation with Norman in his home. He told me his life history of living in Oregon for nearly a century as a ChineseAmerican man. In speaking with him, he told me that creativity and frustration were the two aspects of his life that made him the man he is today. In an interview from 1995 with Al Siebert, Norman is quoted as saying “I applied for different jobs after I graduated college. Every place I went they said they wouldn’t hire a Chinaman. Every place I applied I ran into prejudice.” It was through this experience of prejudice and frustration that he created his own destiny and chose to work for himself. He became one of the most respected coin dealers in the world. When it came to racism, Norman was not shy to confront prejudice head on. He told me a story about a white man who told him that he spoke good English. His response was, “You speak good English, too. When did you come to America? Are you American?” He explained that he took the offensive and turned it around so fast that they didn’t know what to do. He explained that his family was native Oregonian and that his family might have fed the man’s family when they first came to America. Norman explained to the man that he should not assume that a person cannot speak good English just because he isn’t white. Norman said, “I turned the situation around so fast that I had him nailed to the wall. I crucified him.” My favorite part of the day was looking at pictures that he wanted to share with me on his phone. He said many times to me, “No one that you’re going to talk to has pictures like these on their phone. I’ve got a good eye.” The portrait that I painted of Norman is based off of a photograph that I took of him when he was looking through his phone for pictures to show me. Sarah Chung Sarah Chung is Vice President of the Portland Chinatown Museum and one of its founding members. Sarah attended the CCBA language school as a child. She has memories of being part of a girl’s dance troupe that would pantomime and lip-sync to classical Cantonese opera songs. These performances happened in the early 60’s. Dancers included Sarah, Carol Wong, Ann Wong, June Fong, Serena Chen and Frances Lee. “Chinese was my initial language and I spent my elementary school years at CCBA Chinese Language School. Hence I do speak Cantonese urban dialect fairly well. We would come in to Portland on weekends from Astoria. My father became involved with CCBA and my mother with the Chinese Women’s Auxiliary. One of the school staff thought that six of us had great stage presence and taught us to mime Cantonese opera songs and all the nuanced gestures. We also danced and were known as the Lantern Dancers and we performed at all Chinese public events, Rose Festival events, and general public events. It was a ton of fun to be all made-up like ‘china dolls’ and wear beautiful costumes.” —Sarah Chung Photo reference for this painting was taken on March, 1961. Glenn Chin Glenn Chin looks like a modern day mythical Chinese warrior. He has a long salt and pepper beard, shaved head, and visible tattoos. He is accomplished in the field of branding and creative development, where he has held the titles of Global Brand Director of Nike Basketball, VP of Global Brand Management for EA Sports, and has started his own E-Sports company called Most Prolific. His consultancy focuses on gaming, sports, and tech. A lesson that was passed down to him through his parents is the importance of connecting to one’s own history. At an early age he was told, “You’re only going to get taught what other people want to teach you.” Pride in family and connection to ancestry is not something you will be taught in school; it is something you have to learn for yourself and pass down to the next generation. Glenn is 5th generation Chinese American. He grew up in the San Francisco area, where his Grandfather on his mother’s side, Felton Fong, was the head of the Soo Yuen Tong Benevolent Association in SF. His grandparents on his father’s side worked hard in sewing factories and restaurants, and eventually purchased industrial properties in San Francisco. His ancestry is something he has a lot of pride in. After graduating college, his grandfather, Felton Fong, hand painted a scroll in honor of Glenn. In big letters, the scroll reads, “Special scroll for Glenn. Born with athletic ability, good clear eyes, and ability with hands. Date, August 15, 1987.” This drawing depicts a recent image of Glenn and his dog. The three figures in the background are from a team photo taken 40 years ago of Glenn and two other basketball players.
9 0 ILLUMINATING TIME Kittie Kong Kittie Kong was born and raised in Mississippi. As a child, she grew up in a family owned Chinese restaurant. She is 5th generation Chinese American on her mother’s side and 2nd generation on her father’s side. Mississippi had a population that was almost 50/50 black and white, where established systems did not cater to the Chinese population. At the age of 17, she left her biological family and was raised by white southerners and learned to understand and communicate with other perspectives. Eventually she attended culinary school in Austin, Texas. For decades Kittie worked in the restaurant industry and experienced the difficulties and inequities endured by woman and people of color. She also witnessed the exploitation of poor people in the food industry. In 2014, Kittie moved to Portland in order to start a new life. She sought after government and nonprofit work. Today, she works in the Office of Equity & Community Engagement of Washington County in Hillsboro. She is also a board member of Portland’s chapter of the Chinese American Citizen’s Alliance and has worked closely with the Asian American Youth Leadership Conference as their college and career fair organizer. She works hard to ensure that folks in the local Asian American community are engaged and have a voice. In this portrait, Kittie Kong is seen in Hello Kitty cosplay at the Sanrio Hello Kitty Friendship Festival that was held in Portland, 2015. Nick Lee Nick Lee is the owner of Studio Signs & Pictorial Displays Inc., a company established in Portland during the 1960’s that specializes in hand painted signs, lettering design, gold leaf. In 2018, Nick took over the business from his father, Melvin Lee who is currently retired. Nick is 4th generation Chinese American on his father’s side. His family has been involved in the Lee Family Association for generations, beginning with his grandparents. Family associations were originally developed to provide support for the Chinese community at a time when the discrimination of Chinese people was severe. The United States government even outlawed the immigration of Chinese People when drafting the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Today the role of the Lee Family Association is to preserve and pass down Chinese traditions to the next generation of Chinese Americans. Nick has taken on leadership roles within the organization as one of the head coaches of the Lee Association Lion Dance Team. He also practices martial arts and Chinese meditation. He has made it his personal responsibility to preserve Chinese traditions and practices in the Portland area. I admire Nick’s commitment to upholding and passing down both Chinese cultural traditions and the traditions of sign painting. It feels apparent to me that he holds a sense of pride and strength from continuing the arts and practices of his family and ancestors. I respect both Nick and Melvin Lee so much and am glad that our paths have crossed in Portland. In this painting, Nick is seen hand painting a sign for Greater Trumps Cigar Bar in Portland, 2014. Jennie Shen Jennie Shen is a first generation Chinese-American whose family immigrated from Taiwan. In 2003, Jennie’s father moved the entire family to the United States when Jennie was 8 years old. Jennie and her brother were probably one of the only immigrants in their school district at the time. It led to situations involving racial targeting and trauma that Jennie experienced at a young age. Jennie majored in Psychology and Communication Disorders & Sciences at the University of Oregon. She personally recognized the need for mental health services in the Asian-American community. She also understood the importance of language communication as someone who grew up with English as a second language. She hopes to eventually pursue a master’s in Speech Pathology. She hopes to serve immigrants and underserved communities in this field. I originally met Jennie as a lead organizer of the Asian American Youth Leadership Conference (AAYLC). Jennie attended the conference as a student from Tualatin High School. She eventually became a student ambassador in her senior year and was even chosen to receive a scholarship through the conference. After college, she reconnected with the program as part of their planning team. Helen Ying recognized the good work Jennie was doing and invited her to be on the board of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance (C.A.C.A.) Portland Lodge. Jennie is on the board as a secretary and is currently the youngest member of the board. Jennie currently works at the Asian Health and Services Center as a community health worker. She serves the elderly population whose primary language is not English. Jennie provides tele-health services to this population. It has been in greater need than usual during the pandemic where people are more isolated.
ALEX CHIU 91 Billy Lee I met Billy Lee through a fellow muralist, Yamio DaFiyamouth. The two of them collaborate as musicians under the band name, Soul Fiya. I was intrigued about meeting a Chinese American rapper in Portland. His name as a musician is Billy SouL. He is also a father and martial artist. He once trained to be a professional fighter in his 20’s. I had the pleasure of sharing dinner with him and his daughter several months back. His message to me was that it was important to study your history. “That’s why it’s important to study history. We have a more broad sense of who we are, what we are doing, what we are trying to do. The more we understand history, the struggles, all the things that have happened, suddenly it adds to your passions. SoundCloud Bio: “Billy SouL, song writer, performer. Born in Hong Kong raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, currently reside in the Pacific Northwest. Fell in love with Hip Hop back in 94. Started writing in 99 with a simple goal of hearing himself through some speakers. Fast forward with music now has played in 60+ countries and work with many talented producers and MC’s across the globe. it’s safe to say he went beyond his expectation. And there is no sign of slowing down.” Tommy Ly Tommy Ly creates custom, hand painted pop culture toys via 3D printer. He currently runs a storefront at 133 SW 2nd Ave. in Downtown Portland called Stumptown Otaku. He currently sells custom made toys as well as imported merchandise from Asia. Tommy is a first generation Chinese American, born in Vietnam and raised in Oregon. He explained to me that as a child his mother could not afford the toys that he wanted. As an adult, he is able to reproduce nostalgic toys that he would have wanted as a child using the high tech resources that he now owns. He is also able to express himself artistically through these creations. He started his business at the beginning of the pandemic when he bought his first 3D printer using his pandemic stimulus money. The figurines that he creates include Asian pop culture characters, iconic comic book characters, and even political figures like Bernie Sanders. He is also a founder of an organization that he calls 100 Chopsticks (IG: @100chopsticks). The idea was to create a space for young Asian Americans to congregate in the real world, socialize, and build relationships in order to create a sense of cultural identity in Portland. He hopes to provide resources for younger Asian Americans, specifically Generation Z. It is a way for young Asian Americans to proclaim, “We are the future.” As he explained to me, “one chopstick is easy to break, but 100 chopsticks are impossible to break when they are together.” Beverly Liu & Clifford Liu Beverly Liu is an 89 year old Chinese American elder who moved to the United States in 1950. Her husband was a military veteran who fought for the United States and returned to China to find a wife. Beverly shared with me the story of how her husband, Clifford Liu asked for her hand in marriage. In those days, it was well known that Chinese American men could probably marry any young woman he wanted in China. American citizenship equated to wealth in those days. Before meeting Beverly, he met four women and rejected all of them. He must have thought Beverly was the most beautiful woman because he set up a meeting with her family and asked her if she would like to get married before he even knew her name. She said yes to him before she even knew his name. I asked if she liked him when she met him. She told me she was shy and said very little and didn’t even look him in the eyes when they first met. When he asked her if she wanted to get married, she finally looked up and thought, “Whoa! He’s very handsome.” Similarly, when she was getting married, no one in the village knew who she was and the people he knew had never met her before. She wore a red veil over her face and all the young men demanded to see her face. When she opened her veil the men shouted, “Wow! She is so beautiful!” They must have been a very beautiful couple together. Clifford always carried a picture of Beverly in his wallet. It was the photo given to him by the matchmaker so long ago. When he died, the photo was buried with him. Since this was written, Beverly passed away peacefully with her family surrounding her on June 23rd, 2022.
92 ILLUMINATING TIME Terry Lee This is a portrait of Mr. Terry Lee, the Head Coach of the Portland Lee’s Association Lion Dance Team. “The team was founded in April, 2004 by Mr. Ken Lee, who imparted his lion dance knowledge and experience to Terry Lee. He is currently assisted by Coach Eric Lee & Coach Nick Lee. The Portland Lee’s Association Lion Dance Team has performed at thousands of events and is in great demand for performances throughout the year. In 2009, Coach Terry Lee formalized an agreement with the Portland-Suzhou Sister City Association and the Lee’s Association Lion Dance Team was given custody of the Golden Dragon, a gift from Suzhou, China to its sister city Portland, Oregon. Thus, the Dragon Dance Team was founded and dragon dance was added to the team’s repertoire. In 2010, the team’s name was officially changed to Lee’s Association Dragon & Lion Dance Team. The Lee’s Association Dragon & Lion Dance participated in the Portland Rose Festival Starlight Parade in 2010 for the first time and performed with illuminated lions and the Golden Dragon. The Award for Best Marching Entry was won by the Portland Lee’s Association Dragon & Lion Dance in their second Portland Rose Festival Starlight Parade appearance on June 4, 2011. Their banner, flags, lions, dragon and drum were all illuminated with twinkling colored lights. One week later, the team participated in their third Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade in front of a crowd estimated at 500,000 people.” (Written description courtesy of The Portland Lee Association Dragon & Lion Dance Team) Beatrix Li I met Beatrix Li as an individual who responded deeply to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. As people began to protest police violence after the death of George Floyd, Beatrix was involved in organizing people of Asian decent to unite and speak out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. They are quoted in a rally saying, “We are here as immigrants because Black freedom fighters in the Civil Rights Movement fought for us to exist in this land.” Beatrix is currently focused on organizing, data, and advocacy work. Their work is aimed at addressing the problems of policing and mass incarceration. They are also in an Asian-American women and non-binary cohort where they explore their cultural identity. They believe that the city of Portland has a history of cultural erasure and gentrification. This is evident in the way that Chinese culture has been pushed further and further away from the Chinatown area. “My way of being Chinese-American is Chinese enough. It’s a way of being Chinese-American, and there isn’t one singular way. It’s ok that parts of me may look or feel more Portland than Hong Kong because Portland has had a lot of influence on me… I have to intentionally spend time to be Chinese, honestly.” Roberta Wong Roberta is a well accomplished Portland-based conceptual and installation artist. Her work explores cultural themes of Chinese-American history, the immigrant experience, and racism in America. In my portrait of Roberta, she is depicted along with her iconic installation entitled, “All-American.” This installation consists of a severed que or braid of hair (commonly worn by Chinese men) laying on a wooden chopping block. This installation speaks to the painful experience of Chinese immigrants who are sometimes forced to let go of their Chinese culture in order to be accepted as an American. Roberta was born into a family who owned the historic Tuck Lung Grocery & Restaurant in Portland’s Chinatown. She grew up working in her family’s kitchen at an early age. As she grew older and prepared to graduate high school, her personal dilemma was torn between staying in Portland to support the family business or to move elsewhere for college to study Asian studies and art. By 1971, Roberta knew her senior year that she would pursue her art studies as a sculptor, but it would be a decade later that conceptual art became her medium of choice to align her identity as a visual artist and Asian American. She would create art with social/cultural content with intent to inform, if not raise the social consciousness of her community.
ALEX CHIU 93 Michi Cheung Michi is a college student, currently finishing a degree at Portland State University in International Studies. Michi grew up in Iowa and attended high school as an international student in Shanghai and Beijing, China. They eventually moved to Portland, OR for college. Michi is a queer, mixed race, half-Chinese and half-white person in their 20’s. Their mother grew up in rural Ohio; their father grew up in Hong Kong and moved to the states for graduate school. Based on their studies, life experience, and cultural background, Michi has become extremely well aware of the nuances of Pan-Asian and Chinese culture around the world. In our conversation we discussed their travels as an international student, the rise of Asian-American popular culture, Asian online culture, and more. Michi has begun to establish themself as a writer and poet. They recently had their work published in an internationally-based zine called Canto Cutie, Volume 5, where they wrote about the passing of their grandfather in Hong Kong. I painted a portrait of Michi walking above a graffiti piece that they painted. The Chinese characters translate to Sleep Walker or DayDreamer. Jason Leivian Jason Leivian the owner of Floating World Comics. This particular shop is world-renowned for its selection of independently produced, experimental, eccentric, and international selection of comicbooks. In 2011, Jason was one of the first shop owners to buy copies of my illustration zines and mini-comics and put them on display for sale. Historically, the shop had existed in Portland’s Old Town Chinatown. In an article written by the Mercury, Jason is quoted as saying, “For the past 16 years, I’ve been proud to call Old Town Chinatown home… It has been a privilege to identify as a Chinese-American business owner with a shop in Chinatown. My wedding was a few blocks away at the Lan Su Chinese Garden and my daughter grew up running around the shop.” Recently, Jason moved his shop to the Lloyd Center Mall, leaving its old location in Old Town Chinatown on August 8, 2022. Jason was born in Pheonix, Arizona. His mother grew up in Taiwan and his father is from Kansas. Growing up, he expressed that he did not have a strong connection to his Chinese heritage. “Us growing up in the 80’s, I was born in ’78. I feel like the Chinese culture was not something that was focused on. It was more like, assimilate.” As a father, he sees more diversity in cultural representation in his daughter’s generation. In addition to running the shop, Jason has pursued his own personal projects including publishing comics of lesser known comics creators and producing and playing music. You can listen to his music that he made with Michael Newman under the moniker LAVA on Bandcamp. He is also collaborating with Power Comics to republish underground comics from the 90’s. Jen Tam Jen Tam has been an internet homie and Portland Asian friend of mine for a long time. Jen has a hilarious and salacious internet presence and has been supportive of our family’s activities for years. We run into them at local events from time to time. We know them as a stand-up comedian, front person of the punk band VOG, and organizer of CornCon, the corn themed comedy festival. When given the opportunity to interview interesting folks of Chinese descent, Jen Tam was on the top of my list. Jen moved to Portland in 2009 from Hawaii with a high school friend. At the time rent was $400 a month for them in Portland and they wanted to live on the west coast. Early on, Jen worked in the film industry as a production coordinator for filmmaker Lance Bangs. They worked on a show for VICE and got a glimpse into the world of the entertainment industry. In 2019, Jen got a grant from Open Signal to make a documentary about a punk house in Portland called Human Flesh Body World. In 2020, Jen did fundraising for Mutual Aid organizations. Jen recently started playing in a new heavy band, all people of color, non-men. They also play solo beep-boop music under the moniker Gemini Moon. “Being Chinese rules. We’re actually the best because no one can tell how old we are. We’re really strong, even though we’re short. We’re stout and we have a low center of gravity. We do really powerful things together as a collective. My parent’s hoarding is a protective barrier in case the world ends.” —Jen Tam
94 ILLUMINATING TIME Helen Ying Helen Ying grew up in SE Portland. She graduated from Marshall High School, and received her master’s in Education from Portland State University. Her career was in education, where she invested 30+ years of her life. I met Helen Ying as the Chair of the Asian American Youth Leadership Conference (AAYLC). In 2020, she had me attend the conference as a guest speaker and organized the youth to help me paint a community mural in Old Town Chinatown at the former House of Louie building. Later I would learn that she is a Board Member of the Chinese American Citizen’s Alliance (C.A.C.A.) Portland Lodge and a former chair of the Old Town Community Association. In fact, she has had a long history of service for the Old Town Chinatown community. One year, the theme for AAYLC was, “who am I?” One of the workshop activities asked students to determine a vision statement, mission statement, and tag line as a branding activity. She engaged in this assignment herself. Her statements read as follows: My vision statement is “Connecting the dots for a better world.” My mission is “To engage and empower people to take action in improving their communities.” My tag line is “Live, Love and Give.” Helen retired early in 2010. Helen felt the need to invest in the Chinatown community when a former student explained to her that Chinatown was the “dangerous part of town.” Helen took this to heart and invested her energy in changing the reputation of the neighborhood. She currently holds various titles as a public servant from the local to state level. Neil Lee Neil Lee is the current President of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA), President of the Portland Lee Family Association, Principal of LEEKA Architecture and Planning, a board director for the Portland Police Bureau’s Asian & Pacific Islander Advisory Council, and father of two grown children. His great grandfather came to the United States from Toisan, China and started a historic grocery store in Portland called Tuck Chong & Co. In conversations with his father, Neil learned that the Portland Lee Association was founded in this historic grocery store. Neil’s father also worked at this grocery store after he came to the States himself. Neil was born and raised in Portland, OR. He was the first born child of his parents, and attended the CCBA Chinese language school as a kid. Later in life, he was invited to a Lee Association meeting by Susan Lee, the wife of a former Lee Association president. As time progressed, he was asked to run for a leadership position and became Vice President in his 20’s. After taking a break in leadership for about 15 years, the Lee Association had their 21st Lee National Convention in Portland. Neil was invited to help develop this convention. The next year after the convention, he was elected President and continues in this capacity today. Neil opened up to me about the darkest time of his life. During the Great Recession (2008-2010), his business was a thread away from bankruptcy, his daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer (she beat the tumor and is currently in dental school), and went through a divorce from his wife. Neil endured these events and emerged from the recession successfully. Neil was voted citizen of the year in 2018 by the C.A.C.A. In 2019, he was given the Building Diversity Award from the Daily Journal of Commerce. In 2012, he was named Minority Business of the Year by the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs, (OAME). Neil has two sayings that he lives by. One is, “Create positive impressions in the built environment (as an architect).” The second is, “Help other people become more successful. When you do that, you will become more successful.” Maiyee Yuan Maiyee Yuan is a second generation Chinese American raised in Salem, Oregon. She attended college at Oregon State University and chose to stay in Portland after she graduated. Maiyee currently works as a staff member at the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO). Her title at the organization is Culture, Equity, & Integration Manager. She is also able to work with the Cantonese speaking population in the Jade District. We met up for lunch at Kenny Noodle House. One of the topics that we focused on was the concept of mental health in Chinese families. We reflected on the ways that our parents’ behaviors were beginning to reflect in our own behaviors. Maiyee has been contemplating going back to school for social work with an emphasis on therapy and counseling. She is beginning to recognize the need for Chinese mental health professionals in the Chinese community. It is something that she’s reflected on in her own therapy experience. The image I painted of Maiyee is originally from a selfie from her Instagram account. She called it an image of “Oregon indoor sun soaking in the winter.” The lighting of the image was interesting to me.
ALEX CHIU 95 Horatio Law Horatio Law is a well accomplished public installation artist and conceptual artist here in the Pacific Northwest. I started communicating with Horatio over the last couple years. He has acted as an artist mentor for me and encouraged me to think outside of the box in terms of public artwork. Horatio and I shared lunch together and he told me stories of his formative years as an artist. Horatio was a teenager when he moved to New York. His education was exploring the city. On the weekends and when he was not working, he went to museums, Broadway shows and concerts. It was a form of self-education in New York City, especially in performing arts. As a college student, Horatio studied biology at John Hopkins University. He graduated with a degree, but knew that he did not want to pursue a career in the sciences. After college, he figured out creative ways to put together an art degree. Horatio loved printmaking and continued to take the same printmaking courses over and over again. “I ended up doing what I really loved to do. Whatever you really love will propel you.” One memorable moment happened when his printmaking instructor was casually chatting about his students. He told Horatio, “You and Ratinski will have no problem. You two are going to be artists.” This moment was meaningful to Horatio. Horatio couldn’t recognize what the professor saw in him. It was a real moment of validation for him. “This is something that others see in you, that you didn’t see in yourself.” He compared the moment to reaching a new ledge in rock climbing. “It was something that I could hold onto. Even if there were setbacks, it was something I could hold onto.” On a trip to China, Horatio asked a well-known Chinese-American painter, “Can others tell if you’re going to be an artist or not?” His response was, “No one can tell you if you are going to be an artist or not. You only realize you are an artist when art is the only thing you can do or want to do.” This moment was also a moment that Horatio held onto. Betty Jean Lee Betty Jean Lee is an 88 year old native Oregonian. Her father and his uncle had a restaurant in the original Chinatown. She attended Fernwood Grade School and Grant High School. She was the only student of color in her schools at the time. She studied at the University of Oregon and studied Education and Business Administration. She was married and had 3 children: two boys and a daughter. She worked in her dad’s family business. One of her father’s restaurants was called the Pagoda, the first Chinese restaurant outside of Chinatown. She let me know that her proudest accomplishment was working with Safeway to develop Chinese Delis. She helped to set up these Delis. These delis helped to employ Chinese American restaurant workers who could receive benefits from the business corporation. She credits her good relationship with the Chinese American community to her father, who established a good relationship with the community early on. Her father helped non-English speakers in this country. She encourages the Chinese American community to speak out and participate in the voting process. “We’ve been raised to always be quiet and not make a fuss. That needs to change. We need to use our voice and be heard.” Thank you Portland Chinatown Museum The Lee Family Association The Chinese American Citizen’s Alliance The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association Portland Lee Association Dragon & Lion Dance Team The Oregon Community Foundation Horatio Law Roberta Wong Anna Truxes Sam Roxas-Chua Shu-Ju Wang Jennifer Fang Sarah Chung Kapiolani Lee Joanna Sunyan A’misa Chiu
96 ILLUMINATING TIME APPENDIX A PCM and community celebrating the artist-in-residency program at the opening event of Illuminating Time on December 1, 2022
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