Jess T. Chang
We cannot forget the past, we cannot forget the myths and the stories given to us, we must remember them as lessons from where we once were — aim to unify the understanding of the connectivity of how things are. The fact that we are composed of the same essentials that allow us to find a coalescence of all forms. Although we are all individuals with, different minds, different language and different ways of representing oneself. One cannot exist without the other, flowing into a stream of constant balance. We need not shun an entire demographic based within their facticities. There are aspects of ourselves that we cannot, and should not compromise for those who cannot accept or understand.
I am a daughter of two immigrants, coming from two countries who have been turned over from war, revolution, and regime change. This has given me an experience that has undeniably shaped me and my work, ultimately, my perception of the world. What my place as a first-generation Japanese/Taiwanese American means to me and the world. What is my narrative? For a large portion of my life, I questioned where I belong... a constant feeling of floating and drifting throughout. In the end, I found some grounding within identity. My culture found me. My home found me. I traced it back to the source and was able to see that within everything there is man and there is woman.
I have learned who I am through my absence of Self.
