Ridgeline, 2021, Collage, acrylic on canvas

A Far Glance, 2022, Collage

These artworks represent a convergence and dichotomy of influences and genres; they acknowledge the historically preserved elements of papercut art that are entrenched in artist Sijia Chen’s family history, which she merged with her abstract artistic language. These works are contemporary and symbolic, but also serve as a bridge across culture, time, and space. They address the myriad subject matters and challenges that Asians face as individuals and as a collective group. They help contemplate both internal and external forces around immigration and acculturation, and their influence on how we view each other and ourselves. These works include paper-based media provided by community members, including portraits, immigration forms, menus from restaurants owned and/or operated by immigrants, and advertisements from contemporary magazines and publications that promote Western-centric values. By applying papercut techniques on these materials of personal significance, Chen transformed them into houses, roads, vehicles, trees, other objects, which she then merged and overlapped to form compositions of natural environments inspired by traditional Chinese landscape drawings. The end results are expansive compositions of landscapes and intimate personal profiles, filled with narratives, color, and depth.