It is not lost on me that I am launching my father’s legacy project at a time when anti-Asian sentiment is at an all time high in the U.S. I hope I can use this platform as a way to highlight the role that Asian American and Asian immigrant artists like my father played in creating a more beautiful, just, free and harmonious world.
Many had difficulty wrapping their heads around the fact that my father was a Tyler School of Art and Tamarind Institute trained printmaker influenced by abstract expressionism, but he was also trained in traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy. The (art) world tends to box people in based on what they choose and want to see, and my observation is that he was more appreciated for his Chinese-style paintings, which in my opinion, set limitations on who he was.
His artist statement below tells me that he was courageously and skillfully crossing borders and boundaries with his training and style. Should we be defined by who people think we are, or want us to be, or should we aspire for who we know to be our true selves?
在美国反亚裔情绪空前高涨之际，我启动父亲的遗留项目并没有让我迷失。我希望我可以利用这个平台来强调亚裔美国人和像我父亲这样的亚裔移民艺术家在创造一个更加美丽、公正、自由和和谐的世界中所起的作用。
我父亲是一位受抽象表现主义影响的训练有素的版画家，但他也受过中国传统绘画和书法的训练，这一点让许多人难以理解。世界总是根据人们的选择和想看的东西来限制他们，我的观察是，他更欣赏他的中国风格的绘画。
他的艺术家声明告诉我，他以自己的训练和风格勇敢而娴熟地跨越边界。我们应该根据人们认为我们是谁，或者希望我们是谁来定义我们，还是应该追求我们所认识的真正的自我？
李阐洛（Chen Lok Lee)