Being an Asian-American isn’t easy even in the dating realm. Aside from being racially profiled for your looks, there are certain expectations set by the society of you and more often than not, they lack the cultural knowledge to fully comprehend you. Well, Chinese-American artist Ada Chen knows this all too well and now makes jewelry that confronts Asian stereotypes!
Her powerful work of art comes in the form of dangling earrings that resemble iMessage speech bubbles, immortalising real-life, cringe-worthy conversations with men. They hilariously encapsulate what we call yellow fever and the micro-aggressions targeted at her for her race.
Her satirical Made in Chinese America collection boasts pieces that read out “Speak English, We’re in America”, and also jewelry with outrageous names, like a delicate headpiece that was aptly named Chink’ Eyepiece. All of her creations are complemented with bold, mocking descriptions that are more than entertaining and worth checking out.
She says of her jewelry, “My self-investigation of my identity as a Chinese American woman has been the main inspiration of my ‘Made in Chinese America’ collection. Memes are also a significant inspiration for my collection because I started seeing a lot of memes and posts regarding social issues.”
“A lot of what I saw did not address issues that I could personally relate to, so I wanted to create the content for myself and for other Asians in America (most of these Asians are probably East Asian because ‘Asian’ is a big word, but that’s another discussion). I just wanted to convey the message to Asian Americans that our experiences are valid and that we should feel comfortable to talk about them more.”
She is our feminist hero of the 21st century, and rightfully so! Check out more of her work here.
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