Jane Fonda’s Original Workout / “Flex” Factory



art happenings/
2017-2019



Ever since 2016, I have done Jane Fonda’s Original Workout (the best-selling VHS of all time) almost every day. In an era where women were discouraged from exercising and gyms were dominated by men, Jane Fonda’s Original Workout (1982) was groundbreaking. It popularized fitness for women (as well as a neon spandex fashion craze), and the proceeds supported leftist political organizations. During my residencies at Vermont Studio Center, The Wassaic Project, and Oxbow School of Art, I made Jane Fonda’s Original Workout into a daily happening, and invited residents and staff to participate in this iconic aerobic ritual. In the heyday of Equinox, Class Pass, and the disgustingly remunerative Cult of Health, Jane Fonda’s Original Workout functions as a free, silly, and moderate group workout that only requires a towel. The workout attracted a heterogenous group of residents, including Cheryl R. Riley, who actually did Jane Fonda’s workout with Jane Fonda in the 80’s. In 2019, I was asked to lead Jane Fonda’s Original Workout (advertised as a “queer comedic fitness demo”) at Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria, NY as part of Flux Takeover!

Jane Fonda at Oxbow School of Art & Artists’ Residency, 2018

video made in collaboration with Zehra Khan



Jane Fonda at Trivial Pursuits: Project Flux Addition2018

organized by Sarah Dahlinger



Jane Fonda at Flux Factory’s Annual Art Auction, 2018


Jane Fonda at Vermont Studio Center, 2019








for fucked up kids

pen and colored pencil on paper/
2012


I made The Coloring Book for Fucked Up Kids for an assignment in my first drawing class with Craig Hill. It tells the story of a Chinese-American girl whose classmates nicknamed her Ting Ting and whose mom killed her pet rabbit and ate it for dinner. It tells the story of love lost in translation, the difficulty of understanding across cultures, and the challenge of tolerating your own family. It tells the story of the lonely, messy, vibrant upbringing of the displaced.

The Coloring Book for Fucked Up Kids was exhibited in multiple dorm rooms at Kenyon College until it vanished, as did the psychedelic tapestries.

Phoebe Rotter wrote about for Fucked Up Kids in the compendium, A Celebration of Female Artists at Kenyon College.









paintings

oil paintings/
2015-2017


Over the course of five years, I was determined to uncover my family’s fraught history in China. By inserting personal photographs into the broad, positive narrative of Chinese propaganda posters, I sought to integrate the specific, personal experiences of my family into this generic lexicon and to capture it in a singular canvas, so unlike a mass-produced poster. I drew on the posters’ iconography of agricultural bounty and Maoist utopia—the bright, false propaganda of an oppressive regime. Propaganda is effective because people don’t look closely enough. Through strange juxtapositions and manipulations of scale, I invited active viewing. Whereas the posters told people what to see, I wanted to change the way they look by refusing to articulate a clear message. These oil paintings were exhibited and sold in numerous galleries, including Kenyon College’s Gund Gallery and City Bird Gallery in NYC.





Yellow Peril





Bravery and Grace Go Hand in Hand





Narcissist (probably)





To think is to think too much