The Tiger Mom Scroll
This is the artist statement for the Tiger Mom 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 Tiger Mom Scroll is about the Asian mother/“Tiger Mom” trope.
The Tiger Mom 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 is the curled backside of an orange tiger with its head looking backward. To the left of the tiger are two baby shoes, one larger than the other, with small tiger embellishments on top; The tiger is curled around these baby shoes.
My family raised me to believe that, of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, the tiger represents the attributes of bravery, strength, ferocity and ‘being the best.’
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. My mother was raised in a metropolitan city along the yellow river called Lanzhou in Gansu, China. She relocated from a city that now inhabits over 3M people to a rural community populated by less than 15k.
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.
My decision to play into the “Tiger Mom” trope, similar to my decision to use the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac for this series, was my way of using my artwork as an invitation. My depiction of the Tiger speaks to the nature of its widely known ferocity as a reactive behavior rather than a baseline behavior. The tiger representing my mom curled around two baby shoes meant to represent her children: the larger shoe on the inner side closest to the Tigers chest represents my brother, her firstborn; the smaller shoe on the outer side represents me, her youngest. The baby shoes depict tiger cubs on their tops meant to represent the familial connection between object and animal.
What the Tiger Mom trope misses, I mean to represent in this painting. That is: the underbelly or the soft side and caring maternal attributes the Tiger exhibits toward her cubs. This painting speaks to the ways stereotypes are often misrepresentations by sharing a glimpse into the multiplicity of qualities and characteristics of Asian mothers.
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.
