Model Minority Straitjackets

Illustrations for Solo Gallery Show, 2017

I took inspiration from traditional East Asian clothing to illustrate straitjackets to convey how constraining the model minority myth is on Asian Americans as part of my solo show at Pearl River Mart in New York City in 2017 for #100DAYSIANS.

The myth is based on dated stereotypes that characterize Asian Americans as quiet, law-abiding, and hardworking, and therefore more able to succeed compared to other marginalized communities. It assumes Asian Americans are a monolith with the same lived experiences, and ignores the wide socioeconomic disparities within the large diaspora. The myth was also created to intentionally pit Asian Americans against other groups, particularly Black Americans. 

These straitjackets were hand-drawn with colored pencil in a non finito (unfinished) style. It was purely a stylistic choice when they were created in 2017, but looking back on them in 2022, the style itself can come to symbolize how Asian Americans are still not being seen as “whole” by mainstream American culture. 

The straitjackets have been used by Harvard’s Asian American Literature Department to market its course to new students, and have also been featured in Glamour. If you’re interested in getting art prints of these, please check out my shop!