‘Ranger Rose’ (2021)

I Rose From Here: Empowering asian youth

I made my Self-Portrait project ‘I Rose from Here’ during the rise of Anti-Asian hate crimes in 2021 and it’s about emerging from this tragedy to find your own strength and bravery, which I hope empowers other Asian youth when they see it. From my personal experience growing up in Britain there hasn’t been enough proportional representation of role-models in TV and Entertainment for POC to identify and be inspired by. It has allowed me to embrace the Asian side of my mixed-heritage instead of hiding it which is a huge part of my identity and how I view myself. This has also encouraged me to take a Meta-modern approach and mix together different cultures and mediums to make it more intriguing and accessible. My concept relates to Futurism and creating a Utopian reality where superpowers can save Asian youth and I achieved this in an exciting and positive way. I have created and became my own Hero and Goddess I would’ve liked to have seen and been openly exposed to growing up called ‘Ranger Rose’ and ‘Purple Rose of the Forest’ which are powerful feminine figures that offer protection especially from racially charged attacks. This make-belief fantasy creation is an act of nurturing for our inner child that encourages other Asian youth to find and believe in the hero in themselves too. I have used a Post-Modern Pop-Art style and a more controlled traditional style, but I experimented by using a multimedium approach with Painting, Digital/Analogue photography, Mono printing, drawing, and especially Screen prints, Lino Prints and Digital Art for Stickers to mass-produce my artwork to widely share it and promote my message.