STREET LEVEL 2017: Jennifer Ling Datchuk
Title
Whitewash
Artist
Jennifer Ling Datchuk
Date Performed
September 21, 2017 - 1104 S. Wabash & October 23, 2017 - Threewalls
Photo Credit
© Sandra Steinbrecher 2017
Artist Statement
We live in a world where identity can be manufactured and appearances appropriated without concern or even awareness. We question and desire authenticity of the other. I explore this conflict through my chosen media – porcelain, which nods to my Chinese heritage but also represents “pure” white – the white desire I find in both cultures. I aim to take back that fluidity and use it to explore my own identity as a woman of color—the sense of being in-between, an imposter, neither fully Chinese nor Caucasian. Whitewash takes the daily domestic act of washing dishes to reconcile feelings of otherness in one’s skin. Unfired porcelain teacups and saucers are scrubbed and washed in a tub of water and slowly break down and the beauty and function of the object are destroyed. The dinnerware has returned to its natural clay state and this white material from the earth is applied to the face to become a new skin to face the world.
Video
About This Project
WAC was proud to partner with Threewalls for its inaugural performance series for the STREET LEVEL Festival; performances took place both at Columbia College Chicago and in Threewalls’ locations throughout the city.
Performance Curator: Jeffreen Hayes, Executive Director Threewalls
Co-Producers: Jeffreen Hayes, Executive Director Threewalls and Neysa Page Lieberman, Executive Director Columbia College DEPS
Project Manager: Regina Martinez, Artist & Artistic Engagement Associate, Threewalls
Assistant Project Manager: Sydney Pacha
Site Manager: Connie Stanley
Artist Assistants: Emily Gallaugher and Ashley King
Special thanks to Chicago Community Trust