(Image courtesy of Lily Honglei Art Studio © 2022)
The oil painting series reveals the model minority’s hardships and adversities from the first-person perspective, aiming to make a strong voice for an invisible, underrepresented group. The work highlights stories such as The Life & Death of My Friend Xiao Lee (F7), depicting the life of a food delivery worker who was tragically killed by a trash truck; The Job Experiences of Mr. Liu (F1, F2, F3, F4), which illustrates the new immigrant who worked various difficult jobs and struggled to make a living in New York; Our Broadway Showcase (F5) that reveals the violence and harassment against Asian immigrants who work around Times Square.
I met Lao Liu when I worked in a Chinese restaurant. He took many low-paying jobs such as in a vegetable farm, nail salon (F2), Chinese restaurant, doing massage (F3), renovation, and finally collecting bottles and cans on the street (F4); these are typical job options for Chinese new immigrants.
Honglei Li
(Image courtesy of Lily Honglei Art Studio © 2022)
Our Broadway Showcase (F5) is based on my experience working as a portrait artist at Times Square. The composition design takes inspiration from a Chinese antique showcase, where the stories of immigrant artists unfold. The background reveals midtown Manhattan, where people attend glamorous Broadway shows. As portrait artists, we were only allowed to work after midnight. We always worked around 2 or 3 AM when Times Square turned into a ghost town with an empty sea of neon signs. Our state of mind resonated with the desolate surroundings.
Honglei Li
(Image courtesy of Lily Honglei Art Studio © 2022)
Casualty of American Dream: Life and Death of My Friends (F6) is a triptych inspired by the Christian altarpiece and Tibetan religious painting- tangka. It depicts the real-life stories of my Chinese immigrant friends, who all died young due to harsh living and working conditions.
The left section (F7) portrays my close friend who is killed by a garbage truck while delivering Chinese food in Manhattan. The right section (F8) illustrates my artist friend, who is murdered outside his dwelling in Queens, NY, on a rainy night. His case quickly turned cold because he didn’t have family in the States to pursue it. The middle section (F9) illustrates a young immigrant artist who falls ill while working as a street vendor in midtown Manhattan and dies in a hospital shortly after.
Honglei Li
Oil on canvas, 48″ by 48″ (Image courtesy of Lily Honglei Art Studio ©1 2021)
Oil on canvas, 48″ by 48″ (Image courtesy of Lily Honglei Art Studio ©2022)
Charcoal pencil drawing on paper, 48″ by 48″ (Image courtesy of Lily Honglei Art Studio © 2022)
Undocumented Life & Death aims at visualizing many adversities experienced by the Asian immigrant population, that marginal group that has been overlooked in the American cultural landscape. The painting series also highlights Asian immigrants’ cultural heritage, which plays a crucial role in constructing new cultural memories and identities for the AAPI community.
“Undocumented Life & Death” is a large-scale oil painting series based on my lived experiences as an Asian immigrant who struggled to survive in New York City. The project will depict stories of lives and deaths within a marginalized community and bring light to a blind spot in contemporary art.
HOnglei li
Throughout my decades of art practice, I have been struck by the absence of voices representing the stories of Asian-American lives in the New York art scene. This silence motivated me to begin work on “The Stereotype: Life of the Invisibles”–an art project that will speak of real memories and narratives from the Asian-American and immigrant communities. For the storytelling, I first reflected upon my own experiences working as a curbside artist in Times Square for years, as well as the livelihoods and deaths of my colleagues that I have personally witnessed. I also interviewed immigrant family members, friends, and other members of the Asian-American community in New York to broaden the perspective of the project.
Sketches for the painting series
Project Further Development
Incorporating augmented reality (AR) mobile technology, Life of the Invisibles and Asian American Mythology painting series are presented as AR installations at multiple public parks throughout New York City from 2022 to 2024.
The painting series are made possible by the support from New York State Council on the Arts under the Office of the Governor’s Regional Economic Development Council Initiative, NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship, Queens Council on the Arts, and Flushing Town Hall.
Image left: Lily Honglei presenting The Stereotype – Lives of the Invisibles at City College of New York, May 2022.
Photograph by Franziska Lamprecht
Exhibitions
Westbeth Gallery, NY. 2024 (information coming soon)
The Red Strings, an augmented reality public art exhibition in New York City. 2022- 2024
Press
LILY & HONGLEI ON USING OLD STORIES TO HEAL NEW WOUNDS, interview by Shannon Lee, Asian American Art Alliance
Acknowledgement
Asian American Mythology painting series receives funding support from the Queens Art Fund, Flushing Town Hall, New York State Council on the Arts, and is fiscally sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts.
