The Snake Scroll
This is the artist statement for the Snake 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 Snake Scroll is about collectivist cultural norms in an individualist society.
The Snake Scroll
The painting itself measures 27” x 40”, but in its final form mounted to silk brocade, it unravels to 3’ x 6’. This painting is made up of two snakes coiled together, but slithering in opposing directions. Behind the snakes are broad red brush strokes that spell out the letters “USA”; the curvature of each letter is used to form a lid of an eye.
My family raised me to believe that, of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, the Snake represents the attributes of fortune, longevity, mystery and wisdom.
My family immigrated to the US in the 1990’s and moved into a community made up almost entirely of white people, mostly of Northern and Western European descent. At that time, just ~50 years after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 ended in 1943, assimilation equated survival as a New American. With each other being the only family we had in Minnesota, it often felt like it was us against the world.
Because my family is Chinese, the fact that we lived in rural west central Minnesota meant we couldn’t blend in - even when we tried. Everywhere we went in our community, eyes would be on us. The eyes I incorporated into the USA lettering are meant to represent this lived-experience.
It’s commonly understood across the globe that in China, the color red usually connotes things like good luck, power and celebration. Something less commonly known is that using the color red to write someone's name is considered taboo. My understanding is that this is because a red-inked name is associated with death. I chose to use red ink for the USA lettering to represent the governmental fear my family lives under.
This painting speaks to the common relational dynamic of codependency amongst Asian American families. “Family is your backbone,” was our motto. My mother would repeat those words anytime one of us would go through something difficult, meaning that family is the only option we have to lean on or go to when enduring tough times. Our family, like all families, has its share of secrets and sins; this painting represents trauma bonding and the complexity of being confronted with family secrets in the Asian Diaspora.
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.
