Art practices of the Chinese women diaspora: On cultural identity and gender modernity

Abstract

Since the early twentieth century, Chinese women artists have emigrated to other countries. Their works are influenced and shaped by diaspora experiences, which vary across time phases. However, the world history of diasporic women is often lost in the larger historical narrative. As such, women diaspora artists also remain an under-represented segment in art realms, both within and outside of China. This is a case study of three Chinese diaspora women artists – Pan Yuliang, Shen Yuan and Pixy Liao. Their works reveal engagement in cultural identity as well as gender identity through an autobiographical approach. For cultural identity, dynamic interaction between the culture of the artist’s homeland and that of her host country play a vital role throughout their art practices. Rather than using elements of typical Chinese cultural heritage, women artists tend to engage in cultural emblems, which connect to their personal-gendered experiences. Albeit confronting the double otherness on cultural and gender identity in a foreign country, the experience of diaspora pushes women artists to pursue independence, self-awakening and broader world-views. With modern conceptions of gender, their practices, particularly the family-theme, convey reflections on the conventional ideology of the family, as well as traditional gender roles.