Eating Myself

Chinese women and Chinese cuisine are fetishized and made palatable for the consumption of Westerners.

I have a number of food allergies and intolerances that have cut me off from eating my grandmother’s food, my Chinese heritage. Experimenting with allergen-friendly versions of the dishes I grew up with is a way to reclaim my heritage.

Looking at my distorted reflection in the leftover cooking grease and pans that I use to make Chinese food is a way to roll myself together with my food in a dual commoditization that is unpalatable to mainstream tastes. In the age of rising anti-Asian hate crimes, this reclamation takes on new urgency.

My photographs are beautiful yet distorted, reflecting the beauty of my Chinese heritage that has emerged and persisted in the face of violent assimilation. I seek to reclaim the commodification and objectification of Chinese women and cuisine.

These photographs were taken in 2021.