The Rabbit Scroll
This is the artist statement for the Rabbit 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 Rabbit Scroll is about Asian Excellence and the Bamboo ceiling (Jane Hyun, 2005).
The Rabbit Scroll
The painting itself measures 27” by 40”, but in its final form mounted to silk brocade, it unravels to 3’x 6’. The symbols I chose to include overlapping and layered in the background are concentric gold ovals used to represent proverbial “hoops” one has to jump through in order to pursue a goal or ambition. The hollow silhouette of the rabbit is depicted as mid-way through a leap toward the right corner - the source of the hoops.
My family raised me to believe that the rabbit is the luckiest of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac; that they represent beauty, elegance, and fertility. This scroll doesn’t tell the story of one single member of the Hao family, instead, it's representative of our collective experience as first-generation immigrant Chinese Americans in the work field. Though there are many, the story I want to share is the one I witnessed most closely during my upbringing, from the eyes of a quiet and observant child.
My mother was an elementary school music teacher before immigrating to the United States. She loved it and her students loved her. During her first decade as a New American, she maintained the belief that it would be possible for her to step into that same profession in the American education system. She learned English, made connections, and built a community all while raising two kids as a single mother after her husband passed away just four years after marriage.
I watched my mom jump through each hoop that was set in front of her; she was relentless in her pursuit of this dream.
Until, sometime after she obtained her Associate of Arts degree from MState Fergus Falls, she started to see a pattern - the pattern that prevented the possibility of her stepping back into that profession from ever being plausible.
Everytime she passed a test, acquired a skill, earned a qualification, or jumped through a hoop and saw the end goal in sight, another roadblock, challenge or hoop would be set in front of her - maintaining the chasm between her and her dream.
When the realization first hit, so did the fury. I watched her alchemize excellence from fire fueled by the racism she received. Her motto during this period was “beat them.” Meaning - ‘if they won’t let you join them, be better than them so they cannot deny you.’
But existing in that state is not sustainable for the long term. And when the toll it took on her was no longer deniable, she accepted that the world in front of her was not going to change. As soon as she jumped through a golden hoop, no matter how perfectly, there would always be another one set in front of her.
So, she pivoted - instead of changing the world, she changed her pursuits. She let that dream dim and searched her soul for something else to steady her sights on.
This painting speaks to the common limitations first generation immigrants and many Asian Americans experience in their career pursuits in the United States; that the zeitgeist socio-cultural systems are set up in a way that make it nearly impossible for us to be valued as equal to our caucasian counterparts.
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.
