Ashlander says those who view her exhibition are looking at themselves: ‘I’m just a mirror of what you see, how you feel’
By Art Van Kraft for Ashland.news
With a striking invitation to “dare to be myself,” Irene Kai says her work challenges viewers to resist, defy and never back down. It’s a motto she says has guided her life from a childhood in Hong Kong to an art career in New York.
An exhibition of her work, titled “Irene Kai: The Journey,” is on display through June 28 at the Langford Art Gallery, 4850 S. Pacific Highway, Phoenix. The Ashland branch of the American Association of University Women will sponsor an artist’s reception at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 14.
“All the photographs in this series are very controversial because people usually look at them and get very offended. But this is what I do as a non-white woman living in a white society. I’m just standing strong and saying what you’re looking at is actually yourself because I’m just a mirror of what you see, how you feel,” Kai said.
Kai, an Ashland resident, says she is often overlooked or dismissed by people because of her appearance as an Asian woman.
“In stores or other places, people will look at me and expect to be served, as if I work there,” she said.
But Kai’s art speaks for itself, and a series of her large photographs fills one room of the Langford Gallery. The images were considered controversial by some of the people who saw them.
Two local women were among those first to wander into the room. They both said it was difficult to decide what they were seeing.
“They’re intriguing, mysterious, compelling, and it’s refreshing to see what photographs of the human form can do. But you don’t really know what it is,” artist Laurie Gabois said.
Heidi Gottlieb also struggled to express her reaction. “I’m a health care professional so I don’t put a lot of judgment on them at all. It is what it is, but I’m not sure what it is,” she said.
Exhibit organizer Becca Blake said, “Kai won’t disclose what the images are from but challenges people to find their own truth in the work. Some of her work is titled “What do you see?” and I see so much beauty and so much grace and a spectacular experience that I highly recommend.”
Kai has decided to keep the origin of the photographs a secret, at least for now.
“I’ve lived in Ashland for 28 years. I have never seen all of my work out on the wall. When I walked in, it was mind-blowing. It’s very emotional because I get to see the whole of who I am,” Kai said.
Irene Kai was born and raised in Hong Kong. At age 15, she arrived in New York City’s Chinatown with her American-born mother. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York and MFA from the Royal College of Art in London. Kai taught design at Penn State University. She currently teaches design and painting at Rogue Community College.
As an art student, Kai posed for sculptor George Segal, who was associated with the 1960s pop art movement in New York. Those sculptures are exhibited at the Whitney Museum in New York and the San Diego Museum of Art. Kai has exhibited work in galleries in London, New York, Los Angeles and Southern Oregon.
Among her many accomplishments, Kai co-founded the Ashland Culture of Peace Commission. She is actively engaged in the commission’s local-global activities. She also led the initiative to bring the World Peace Flame Monument to Ashland in 2018.
Kai is a published author. Her book “The Golden Mountain: Beyond the American Dream” won an Independent Publisher Award for best multicultural nonfiction. “What Do You See?” won an Independent Publisher Freedom Fighter Award for promoting free speech and racial and religious tolerance.
Art Van Kraft is an artist living in Ashland and a former broadcast journalist and news director of a Los Angeles-area National Public Radio affiliate. Email him at [email protected].
