Zadie Xa on shape shifting within the diaspora
I have been chatting about growing up in the 90’s, pushing back against assimilation and the importance on checking one's privilege with Korean-Canadian visual artist Zadie Xa. Here is my #StudioInterview with her. Enjoy!
You are a Korean Canadian visual artist. Would you say your origin has played / still plays a large part on the development of your artistic practice?
Zadie Xa: Absolutely. I am a second generation Canadian whose family emigrated from South Korea in the late 70’s early 80’s. My upbringing was not strictly Korean but my mother did instil within me some traditional values and customs, but when I was younger I was very preoccupied with assimilating into mainstream white culture. My interest in exploring or being comfortable with Korean-ness was regretfully null.
Reflecting on this as an adult deeply saddens me. This disinterest and rejection of being Korean as a young person placed me on the outside of my family’s culture. I have a lot of catching up to do and it this curiosity and interest in understanding my identity as Korean within the diaspora is central to my practice and the starting point for many of my projects. My work deals primarily with identity and I am deeply committed to the representation of POC. The frequent appearance of Asian motifs and themes within my practice are aligned with my agenda to putting forth and highlight an unapologetic, flagrant “ethnic” pride.
Would you define yourself as a feminist? If so what does it mean being a feminist artist?
Zadie Xa:I identify as a feminist and by extension I am an artist who is a feminist, but I don’t think my work dictates overtly feminist statements, however the ideas rooted in my practice are embedded within a larger discourse of intersectional feminism. For me being a feminist artist is taking responsibility by using one´s practice as a platform to engage meaningful discussion that either helps propel equality or pushes against white supremacist patriarchy.
But being a feminist artist goes beyond the work one makes, it is about community, support and inclusion. It is about making room for more voices. It is about listening. Being a good intersectional feminist is hard work and requires one to constantly check themselves, and to earnestly make the effort to rid oneself of personal prejudices.
I am very aware of my privileges and the systemic structures that are enforced to elevate some and hold back others. I am also cognizant of where cultural hegemony fixes me on a racist, classist hierarchical pyramid but it is equally important to see where it has placed others around me. I am fiercely committed to intersectional feminism and the decolonization of my mind. I am aware that this is also a struggle.
I hear the internet has made everything much more equal between genders (irony intended), is that true for you?
Zadie Xa:No. That is not true for me and not for anyone else. If by gender equality you mean the attention that cis white women and some cis Asian women (preferably wealthy) artists garner within the artworld, then yeah maybe. Both groups benefit from their respected set of privileges but even then I don´t see equality between binary genders and if one were to throw QTPOC in the mix, then forget it.
To me your work seems to be really influenced by the 90s culture and aesthetic. Would you say that is true and how so?
Zadie Xa:My adolescence was spent during the 90’s and it was during this time I stumbled upon African American rap music and hip-hop culture. Like many North American teens I became obsessed and to this day remain a huge fan. There has also been, for many years a resurgence of 90’s nostalgia, one can see this with movie reboots and fashion trends, but for me, the music and culture I consumed during this time solidified the person I am today. The era of Wu-Tang, Nas, Puffy and Mase is largely where I draw my aesthetic inspiration. It would be appropriate now to give credit where it’s due, so shout out to Misa Hylton, stylist extraordinaire who dressed Lil’ Kim, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliot, Kimora Lee-Simmons and Diddy. Hylton essentially created the whole late nineties early 2000’s look, of shiny suits, colourful wigs and logo prints that became synonymous with mainstream hip hop during that time.
I love the new pieces you are working on at the moment. I like the textile work and look forward to seeing what you will do with the videos - but let's start with the textile, how come you’ve started using fabric? Was painting too flat?
Zadie Xa:My background is painting but I struggled with the medium and format for many years. I do like painting and the idea of being a great painter but the relationship I have with it is difficult. It is not the medium I best communicate through. When I was younger I really wanted to be like Kara Walker, to have the ability to fit an elaborate set of ideas within a single image. But I find the square format of painting restrictive and I find doing one thing over and over again boring as fuck. But shout out to all my friends who can, cuz that shit is hard and many of them are so good.
I started using textiles in my work because of my interest in clothing, costumes and fashion. My work explores identity construction and I am fascinated with the idea of shape shifting. Making costumes/garments was a very natural transition from painting, because my process is very similar, I lay down fabric and make collaged images through blocks of colour.
You told me something really interesting, that your work is all about being performative without actually performing. That is an interesting thought, I feel the same when working on projects that change with time, when the work is being challenged and updated by the artists that I am working with. How does this performative-without-performance work for you?
Zadie Xa:The impetus behind all of my work is based on personal narrative. I basically have an elaborate magical space odyssey playing out in my head and the objects and surfaces I make are the result of this fiction. I see the performative nature of my work as a state of being, an attitude that relies heavily on modes of presentation and display. To this extent all work is performative, without necessarily falling under the category of “performance”. It´s all just stuff put out on display and vying for the attention of an audience.
Then, back to the video, why did you start experimenting with this medium? I sense music is very important for you, I can see it plays a big part in our work in general, can you tell me why is music is so prominent in your work? I don't necessarily mean audio pieces or the inclusion of music into videos, I mean the influences, the references and so on.
Zadie Xa:Music, specifically rap music is the lynchpin of my practice. I build all my work, regardless what medium I am working from songs, music videos and hip-hop personas. Rap music and to a larger extent hip hop culture served as the fount from where a large part of my identity as a North American was constructed. It´s become an overly familiar story but applies wholeheartedly to my own, the first generation/immigrant kid who assimilates into mainstream culture through black (African American) hip hop culture and really everyone makes work from shit that excites them, and for me it´s rap music.
I started to work with moving image mainly because of my interest and enthusiasm for music videos. It was also another way for me to work with picture building. Like my textile works, I create videos with the same instinct I use when I make pictures/paintings, colour, texture, contrast, saturation, etc.
Images courtesy of the artist
