The Negotiation Table: An Ethic is a Root



woodcut + installation + printmaking / 2023



The Negotiation Table is a series of works in which I take hand-carved woodblocks and transform them into sites of negotiation. This transformation is in response to the history of how print became indoctrinated in the fine arts, in contrast to its use in political campaigning, protest, and community activation.

Historically, print as an invention made it possible to democratize information and communicate with the masses. But to compete with painting—which most other fine art forms are measured against—print needed to become artificially rare. It is best practice in printmaking to destroy one’s printing plates to limit the edition. I have always been uncomfortable with this practice of destroying one’s printing plates, or destroying any evidence of the labor in favor of rarifying the asset. Working through this new methodology, I reflect on what it means for me to challenge print, as a Taiwanese-Chinese American and woman of color who has been made artificially rare in white dominant spaces.

Click to read more about An Ethic is a Root

An Ethic is a Root navigates and negotiates how we arrive at our ethics. What do we risk when we uphold our ethics? And what makes the risks worthwhile?

The central image in this series is a map of my migration route, from where I grew up on the lands of the Kansa, Osage, Kickapoo, and Shawnee, to each of my homes including Teejop (land of the Ho-Chunk, Madison, WI) to my current home on the unceded territories of the Squamish, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh in what is called Vancouver, British Columbia.

In the two woodblock prints, I made water, instead of land, the geographic anchor, with the Great Lakes blooming at the top of the map. I oriented the map with my route(s) growing downward.

My mother still resides in my last childhood home in rural Kansas. Agricultural runoff and nearby development have made the soil poor. The land around my mother’s house regularly erodes and floods when it rains.

Yet the iris flower continues to grow here. Irises are known for growing in places with polluted water, effectively removing toxins and holding soil together.

Read more about my work in The Show

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Front view of installation An Ethic is a Root
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Close-up showing reflections on prints and tables
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Angled photo revealing reflections in mirrored tiles and second hand-carved woodblock on underside of table
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Mirror shot showing reflected woodblock prints
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Angled mirror shot showing reflections of prints and undersides of tables
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Close-up of prints reflected in mirrored floor tiles
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Close-up of mirror reflections lighting up the wall
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Artist Jenie Gao with An Ethic is a Root installation
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Artist Jenie Gao looking at one of the artist's books
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Close-up of artist's books including one in Jenie Gao's hands
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Close-up of artist's book in Jenie Gao's hands
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Artist Jenie Gao's right hand (with a ring) resting on the carved table surface
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Artist's books on table illuminated by light reflections on wall from the mirrored floor tiles
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Reflected underside of table in the mirrored floor tiles, revealing a light blue carved woodblock of the Great Lakes
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Reflected underside of table in the mirrored floor tiles, revealing a light blue carved woodblock of the Great Lakes
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol

woodcut printmaking relief print installation interdisciplinary asian american women artists

Photo from above carved iris table revealing both the top of the table and underside carving of the Great Lakes in the mirror reflections
Exhibition at Libby Leshgold Gallery, Photo by Khim Hipol


Title: The Negotiation Table: An Ethic is a Root (II)

Medium: two hand-carved woodblocks with CNC cut edges resembling the Pacific Northwest coastline transformed into tables with folding legs, woodblock prints on stretched muslin canvas, mirrored floor tiles, linoleum floor tiles, artist's books
Dimensions: tables 20" w x 56" l x 34" t, prints 60" x 30" each, installation footprint 15' x 3'
Photographer: Khim Hipol

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