Where Time Runs Backwards – Daniel Shieh

Daniel Shieh
Wishing you a peaceful future, 2023
Voyager Golden Record replica, found concrete debris, magnetic levitation device, sound dome, faux rock

"A billion years from now, when everything on Earth we've ever made has crumbled into dust, when the continents have changed beyond recognition and our species is unimaginably altered or extinct, the Voyager record will speak for us,"--- Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan 

Launched in 1977 with the Voyager space shuttles, this record created by NASA included greetings in 55 languages, music, photographs of Earth, and other sounds and images representing human activity. The idea was that other life-forms might find the record someday and have a sample of what took place on Earth. More than a letter to aliens, however, it is a time capsule of an ideal image of human progress and global unity in the 1970s, omitting the exploitations and conflicts that ushered some of that progress. The record levitates above a pile of crushed concrete, the appearance of which is reminiscent of the surface of asteroids. As viewers peer over the record, they will hear the contents of the record—sounds appearing eerie and foreign despite their Earthly origin.

Daniel Shieh
Mother’s Anthem, 2023
Radios, wood platform, paint, recording of the American anthem in 30 languages

Mother’s Anthem broadcasts the American anthem in thirty languages commonly-spoken in the United States. Stemming from my observations that American flags on houses can seem like aggressive declarations of belonging, the piece explores the role of patriotism for non-English speakers.

The numerous existing translations of the American anthem in languages such as German (1861), Italian (1916), Polish (1929), Yiddish (1943), Spanish (1945), Navajo (2000), Samoan (2004), and Lakota (2010) suggest that this historic piece of music has been a tool for many reasons, be they political, cultural, or nationalistic. In some cases, such as the Polish and Yiddish version, it offered American newcomers access to the song in their native language. In others, like the Spanish version, the US Government commissioned the translation after a period of military interventions in Latin America when it wanted to promote trade and spread US patriotism there. 

Mother’s Anthem builds upon these histories to examine the relationship between patriotism and assimilation, suggesting assimilation as an enforced process without an ending, passed down through generations of selective erasure and recognition. The multilingual broadcast repeats itself every minute, eventually shedding its grandeur to become a ceaseless mantra.

Daniel Shieh
Home Flag, 2023
Pewter frame, photo on paper

In the 1970s, the economy and scarcity of education opportunities led many in Taiwan to seek higher education in the US, which was seen by many in Taiwan as a path to social mobility.

Behind the work in the distance is a flagpole marking the location of a former military fort. The work itself is a photograph of an American flag hung in my childhood home in Taiwan, which is draped on a towel rack next to a bath towel. My parents are not Americans, nor are they patriotic to the US. Instead, the flag serves as both a decoration and a souvenir from their nine years of education in the US. Houses do not have flag poles in Taiwan, so the towel rack serves as a convenient spot to place the flag; coincidentally, it is located near the highest point in the house, giving it an air of veneration. 

Daniel Shieh
Sheltered Sky, 2023
Resin, plexiglas, LED light, curved track, motor, lumber, cement

During World War II, the US conducted air raids on Taiwan, which was under Japanese rule at the time. This sculpture mimics the shape of air raid shelters in Taiwan that were built during this Japanese occupation. A light on a motorized track creates the illusion of a sun endlessly rising and setting in a cloudless sky, paired with the repetitive sound of Taiwan’s air raid siren. 

Japanese rule of Taiwan ended following the surrender of Japan in September 1945, and the territory was subsequently placed under the control of the Republic of China (ROC) with an order from the US. This allyship was strategic as Taiwan’s close location to China gave the US a political advantage. Since 1978, Taiwan has performed a nationwide air raid drill every year. The same air raid shelters could now be used against potential missiles from China. 

As a child, although I knew what the shelters were used for, the concepts of national identity and conflict with another country were intangible to me. My memory of air raid drills in Taiwanese public schools blurred with other disaster simulation events like earthquake drills. 

Daniel Shieh
Power Play, 2023
Lumber, paint, mirrors

This sculpture mimics the optical effects of a periscope, but is tilted to create a change in perspective. This creates a counterintuitive experience in which the viewer looking from below actually looks down at the elevated person in the distance, while the elevated person looks up at the person below. The intended effect is a flipping of the dynamic between who we might consider having power over the other.

Arleene Correa Valencia
Un Abrazo Mas / One More Hug, 2021
Repurposed textiles on black canvas

Courtesy of the artist and Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco 

Arleene Correa Valencia
Capturados: Pájaros En Vuelo 1997 / Captured: Birds In Flight 1997, 2022
Repurposed family clothing on canvas

Courtesy of the artist and Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco

Arleene Correa Valencia
Aventuras Hacia El Norte: Sueńos de Un Padre Migrante /
Adventures North: An Immigrant Father’s Dreams, 2022
Repurposed family clothing on canvas

Courtesy of the artist and Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco

Inspired by my undocumented migration to the United States, my work explores the nuances of migration, visibility, invisibility, borders and family separation through abstract textile portraiture. In this series of works, I draw from letters I wrote to my father in 1996, at a time when we were separated by the US-Mexican border. As a three year-old I begged him to not forget me, to come back for me and to please reunite our family soon. In an effort to highlight family separation, I occasionally use reflective fabrics and glow in the dark thread that respond to light to expose and conceal the bodies of children and their parents. -Arleene Correa Valencia

Chia-Lun Chang
Extracted Wild Cypress
If I Were Born in America
Do Not Grow Flowers for Oxygen
The Form of Pomelo
4 poems from the book, Prescribee, 2022

During the process of applying for a US visa from 2014-19, a strong sense of alienation in a foreign country and separation from my native land was formed. These poems s(ink) between my Taiwanese memories and my observations in America, capturing the internal and external voices that shape my existence. These voices mostly want to be concrete while others are clouded by impending angst. - Chia-Lun Chang