Year of the Wooden Dragon, unique watercolor, framed

Year of the Wooden Dragon

Hand-watercoloured archival giclee print on enhanced matte paper, 2024, 5" x 7" artwork with 8” x 10” mat and frame. One of a kind. Hand-signed.

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In Chinese mythology, the Dragon is often considered a Yang symbol, embodying light, activation, and the masculine. The Dragon has historically been the emblem of emperors, and is placed in contrast to Yin symbols of the dark, passive, and feminine. But it is a gross misinterpretation to consider yin-yang to be a binary, and the semantics of the term are far older–and queerer–than the patriarchal structures that have shaped more recent Chinese history.

In this Yang Wooden Dragon, dead wood is not passive, but a source of activation. The wood of the dragon’s body bursts with life as the wood breaks down to create new Earth. The dragon’s core element is Earth, so even as the Wooden Dragon’s outer body breaks, it nourishes itself. I am thinking about the grief that intergenerational, diasporic peoples carry in our bones, of what we have lost in our efforts to live. I am thinking about present day genocides that we bear witness to in Palestine, Sudan, and the Congo, and how, despite the violence, those faced daily with death are teaching all of us about the stubbornness of life. Staying alive–insisting that one exists–is the essence of resistance. Dragons are an amalgamation of many animals, and this Wooden Dragon carries the head of an elk, the claws of an eagle, and the body of a rattlesnake. Common, immortal, and fearsome. This Wooden Dragon is for everyone this year who needs a reminder that a people cannot die as long as community exists for and of them. Resistance is long, enduring, and as patient as trees rooting in and becoming earth, ready for a time when they can blossom and fruit again.

Years of the Wooden Dragon:

February 10, 2024 - January 28, 2025
February 13, 1964 - February 1, 1965

The Asian Diasporic Zodiac explores hybrid identities, inspired by conversations with my Taiwanese mother. In the Chinese Zodiac, there are 12 animals and 5 elements that shape individuals’ identities. I reimagined the Zodiac animals as if they were informed by diaspora and landscapes of Turtle Island / North America.