YouthCAN with members of Flower Flower

ARTIST STATEMENT

Resistance At Home is the culminating exhibition of artwork created by YouthCAN artists meditating on meanings of home and collective struggle. With a wide lens, Resistance at Home seeks to uncover the ways in which we resist the US empire’s white supremacy, queerphobia, patriarchy, and racial capitalism while situated in the belly of the beast. On a personal level, Resistance at Home explores how we can take action in our own lives, interrogate notions of home, and recognize the personal as political. From Filipino labor organizing in the 20th century to contemporary gentrification in the Chinatown International District (CID), students explored the varied histories of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) resistance. 

Inspired by themes of displacement Inye Wokoma’s Separation Census, YouthCAN spent the fall discussing the many issues the CID faces. For many people, the neighborhood is a valued cultural home. For others, the CID is a stadium parking lot, a blighted area in need of luxury development, or just a place to grab a bite. To deepen our understanding, YouthCAN learned about the cultural and political histories of the neighborhood from community organizers Aretha Basu and Chrissy Shimizu, history keeper and business owner Auntie Connie Chin Magorty of Sun May Company, and the Radical Filipino History CID tour led by Joaquin Uy. Sharing personal experiences with street harassment and discomfort, YouthCAN discussed safety for all, recognizing that the criminalization of the most marginalized does not address the root causes of poverty or violence. Through the complexities of the CID, YouthCAN identified subjects we wanted to address in our artwork with the help of teaching artists Roldy Aguero Ablao, So’le Celestial, Monyee Chau, Jae Eun Kim, Nancy Mariano, and Lourdez Velasco of artist collective Flower Flower.

Throughout the winter, YouthCAN learned chant and songwriting, screenprinting, and linoleum block printing, all rooted in Pacifika and Asian storytelling. Moving through each medium, YouthCAN explored how our messages changed and took shape in each discipline. Varied in media, Resistance At Home is also expansive in subject, as each work is personal to each artist. We hope this exhibit can inspire you to take action in the face of injustice. Our art and our resistance is a love letter to those who came before us and those who will come after. 

YouthCAN mourns Elijah Lewis, a young Black community leader and visionary who advocated for youth power, community ownership, and creativity. We are inspired by the ways Elijah showed up for his community and hope to continue his legacy through youth empowerment. 

ABOUT FLOWER FLOWER

flower flower is a neighborhood arts “greenhouse” where community stories flourish, and creative expression is nurtured, cultivated, and resourced.

We are a collective of queer and trans, Pasifika and Asian artists and cultural workers who aim to create accessible, thriving art spaces in the Chinatown-International District for our communities to heal and grow together.