Creator:
Amalee Truong (she/her)
A common experience among minoritized artists is the internal struggle associated with creating art that is traditional to their culture. For example, a Chinese Canadian artist might want to showcase Chinese styles in their art because that is what best represents them; however, the question of whether one is “enough” of that minoritized culture to even use that style often comes up. It makes them question whether they have the credibility to use such cultural styles, and whether they would be seen as merely appropriating a style that they don’t have enough credibility to use. And does using that style create the perception that their usage signals representation? This all creates additional pressures on the artist to do a really good job, lest their potential failure reflects poorly on their entire community. With all of these pressures, though, it is still imperative that minoritized artists push forward and create a style that is their own. Dive into Amalee’s thought process as she discusses similar struggles while creating two ceramic vases to represent her and her brother. If you were in a similar position, how would you reconcile the need for representation with the worries about being too much of an imposter to engage in representation?