The Ox Scroll
This is the artist statement for the Ox scroll, one of 12 paintings that make up the artwork series
“The Audacity to be Asian in Rural America: we owe you no apologies”
created in May of 2021 as a part of Springboard for the Arts’ Artists Respond: Equitable Rural Futures.
The Ox Scroll is about chosen family.
The Ox Scroll
The painting itself measures 27” x 40”, but in its final form mounted to silk brocade, it unravels to 3’ x 6’. Depicted in this painting are 5 oxen: two are positioned in profile view at the top two corners of the image facing inward with halos above their heads; All that’s visible of the other three are their heads, the largest in the middle with the two smaller ox heads at the bottom of the image positioned to the left and right of the largest. Green grass blades are patterned across the lower two-thirds of the painting; a bright yellow sun radiates across the top third of the painting.
My family raised me to believe that, of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, the Ox represents the attributes of hard work, determination, diligence and persistence.
Just 4 years after my mother immigrated to the US, my father passed away leaving her widowed with two children under the age of 10 in her new country. At that time, just ~50 years after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 ended in 1943, racism was overt and my family felt the impact of it. Moving across the globe meant our family’s survival was dependent on my mother’s ability to adopt and adapt to American ways of life which meant she had to learn everything ranging from the English language to a completely different economic system.
The two oxen with halos represent Nancy Lawson and Janet Batement, the two church ladies that took my mother and her children under their wings. Nancy and Janet met my mother before I was born. They taught my mother English, the US economic system, and midwestern soci-cultural norms, all of which became the foundation for our family’s survival. I include them in this painting to honor the work they did to till the ground my mother would plow; they were Christian women who lived out their faith in word and deed.
The three oxen in the foreground of the painting represent my mother, brother and me; the grass blades covering the bottom two-thirds of the painting represent the hardships my family has faced while forging our paths in this new country individually and collectively as a unit. And the small ox in the bottom right corner of the painting with less grass covering its face than the other two represents me and the inherent privileges I received being born biracial.
With each other being the only blood-related family we had in Minnesota, Grandma Nancy and Grandma Janet quickly became members of our chosen family. My mother grew up in a collectivist culture and for as far back as I can remember, the seats at the dinner table during holiday gatherings were filled with a hodge-podge of friends my family accepted and treated as kin.
The tangible support provided by Grandma Nancy and Grandma Janet empowered my mother and made it possible for her to recognize her agency. This painting speaks to the pivotal role cultivating community and systems of support play for immigrant families acclimating to life in a new country.
Nancy X. Valentine is a fiscal year 2022 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
