Key art for the 2019 Boston Asian American Festival, to match that year’s theme of Rising Together. The theme was in celebration of BAAFF’s parent organization Asian American Resource Workshop‘s 40th anniversary and all the work they do to advocate for and empower the APA community in Boston.
I was given the prompt of designing a wave turning into a raised fist, in reference to AARW’s wave logo and to APA activists “making waves” during the Asian American civil rights movement. I chose to visually base the wave off Hokusai’s Great Wave Off Kanagawa, not only for its iconic recognizability but to convey the importance of understanding our histories so that we can more effectively work towards changing the present and shaping the future. In referencing Hokusai’s artistic legacy in my artwork, I hoped viewers would also consider that AARW and BAAFF’s own social justice work towards a more inclusive and equitable is built upon struggles and successes of the activists that came before them and is a proud continuation of their legacy.
Although the design was initially only meant to be the key art for the 2019 festival, Festival Director Susan Chinsen liked it so much that it was reused as they key art for the 2020, 2021, and 2022 festivals as well.
