Description
‘Vintage Stagmaster Ad’ by Jessica So Ren Tang
Artist: Jessica So Ren Tang
Title: ‘Vintage Stagmaster Ad’
Medium: Hand embroidery on felt
Dimensions: 4.5″ x 6.5″
Framing: Framed (frame size: 10″ x 12″)
Year of Creation: 2023
About the Artwork:
“During my travels in Malaysia I purchased a bundle of vintage pin up magazines from the 1960s. One of which contained an advertisement for a set of slides along with a free viewer. In front is a sultry and attractive pin up girl with European features. Replacing her with an Asian woman is to challenge the dominant Western narrative in media and advertisements as well as addressing the exclusion of Asian women in Western culture.” – Jessica So Ren Tang
About the Artist:
(Artist Bio)
Born and raised in San Francisco, Jessica So Ren Tang received her BA in Studio Art at mills College in Oakland in 2013. Inspired by her identity as a Chinese American woman, she creates embroideries that reference Asian patterns and objects from her childhood.
(Artist Statement)
Embroidery is versatile in mimicking the original object in shape and design but still distinct enough to be recognized as something else. The stitches are soft but substantial, more tangible.
With embroidery, I explore my Asian-American born identity-the dualism of being too Asian to be American, and too American to be Asian.
In my object series, I recreate familiar Asian American objects that take on the visual identity of the original object but reject said identity due to its material.
In my girl series, I replace the facial identity of suggestively posed Asian women with Asian textile patterns. The patterned skin creates a broader spectrum of Asian identity; it becomes more ambiguous and fluid as identity moves between the two.