Jarod Lew

BIO

Jarod Lew is a Chinese American artist and photographer currently based in Metro Detroit, Michigan. His work explores themes of identity, community and displacement. His most recent project, “Please Take off Your Shoes,” addresses the contradictions inherent to constructions of Asian American identity and examines images of Asian subjects and objects within America’s suburban landscape. The series was inspired by the shocking discovery that his mother was the fiancé of Vincent Chin who was murdered by two autoworkers in Highland Park, Michigan. The outcome of his death sparked the Asian American movement in 1982. In 2021, the project was shortlisted for the Aperture Portfolio Prize.

A portrait from his first project “South of Heaven” was exhibited at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in 2016, and his second project “Maybe I’ll See You There” won the PDN Emerging Photographer award. His photographs have also been exhibited at the Center for Photography Woodstock, Detroit Institute of Arts, Design Museum of London, and Philharmonie de Paris. His clients include New Yorker, New York Times, Financial Times Weekend, GQ and NPR.

STATEMENT

My mom was engaged to another man before she married my dad. His name was Vincent Chin, whose murder instigated the Asian American civil rights movement in 1982. Please Take off Your Shoes takes place in the setting of his life and murder, my hometown of metro-Detroits, as I face what he left behind. In response to Detroit’s disintegrating infrastructure, various Asian diasporas have scattered into the suburbs. What survives are the traces of a lost community within the suburban interior.  Asian Americans face structural forms of isolation as a result of racist and economic forces that break up their communities. Examining this loneliness in private rooms, my photos express a shared sense of precarity. The images signal racial-ethnic expressions of a marginal identity that rests on a paradoxical sense of belonging and alienation, visibility and invisibility. Positioning the particular in relation to the collective, the photographs foster a sense of connection across sites of separation.

Interview with Jarod Lew

Written by Andreana Donahue

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became interested in becoming an artist? What were some early influences?

My mom introduced me to drawing and art when I was a kid. She would make a sketch of something and ask me to recreate it as best I could. You could say she’s my earliest influence and role model. My love of art grew from there as I got into studying art history in college. It wasn’t until after I graduated from college that I fell in love with photography as a medium. Photographers who influenced me in the beginning were Walker Evans, Nan Goldin, Rineke Dijkstra, Chien Chi Chang, Deana Lawson, and Latoya Ruby Frazier.

Where are you currently based and what initially attracted you to working in this community? Are there any aspects of this specific place that have surfaced in your work?

I am currently based in Ferndale, Michigan, which is a suburb just outside of Detroit, Michigan. Growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, I didn't have much of an Asian American community to belong to as a child. In my late twenties, I found out that my mother was engaged to Vincent Chin, who was murdered by two white auto workers in Highland Park, MI in 1982. I felt moved by this history and personal connection to explore the lives of Asian Americans in the midwest and cultivate that sense of community I longed for as a kid growing up.

Can you tell us about your studio space? What are some of the most crucial aspects of a studio that make it workable for you?

My studio space exists as an extension of my living space. The walls are filled with little test prints that I’ve been making for the current project that I am working on. The space has giant windows. That beautiful golden hour light floods into my work space every day. I think all I really need is this decent sized wall and light so I can live with the photographs I make. I often make little test prints of my favorite photos that I make for the projects I work on so I can stare at them as I go about my day. Living with these photographs have helped me explore and uncover themes that I see within my work that I didn't necessarily notice when I initially made the image.

What is a typical day like?

My studio practice usually starts towards the end of the day after I finish work at my day job. Other than that, there’s no typical day. I spend my time planning photos, sometimes going on long walks with my camera, and printing and re-sequencing my photographs. Other times, I’m reading articles and thinking about topics I’m interested in photographing. One of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of my work involves writing down my thoughts and clearly articulating to myself and others what I want to express through my work.

What gets you in a creative groove? What puts a damper on your groove?

For me, it’s having the time to allow myself to be in a space with my own thoughts. I find myself really inspired when I’m able to research, write and brainstorm ideas for the next image I want to make. I think the 9-5 work schedule can be a damper on my groove sometimes. I have to make sure I’m not burning myself out so I have the energy to invest in my own creative passions.

What criteria do you follow for selecting materials? Do you prefer to maintain a narrow focus or work across diverse media? How do you navigate the limitations and possibilities that result from this path?

I’m relatively open to using different materials when it comes to my work. As my work has evolved from just using a camera and the landscape that surrounds me, I’ve become a bit obsessed when it comes to collecting materials to use in my photographs.

Can you walk us through your overall process? How would you describe your approach to manipulating materials? What about decision-making and editing?

I try to plan as much as I can before I photograph something, but after the plan’s been made, I surrender the process to chance. Unexpected changes to the plan oftentimes lead to something special in the photograph.

Can you talk about some of the ongoing interests, imagery, and concepts that have informed your process and body of work over time? How do you anticipate your work progressing in the future?

Reading Asian American scholarship and literature has influenced a lot of my work recently. Because of being in lockdown, I had the time to just study and read texts by Anne Anline Cheng, David Eng, Cathy Park Hong, and Kandice Chuh. Reading their works has inspired me to think about the Asian American experience in different ways which have influenced some of the latest photographs that I’ve been making.

Do you pursue any collaborations, projects, or careers in addition to your studio practice? If so, can you tell us more about those projects, and are there connections between your studio practice and these endeavors?

Yes, collaboration is a major part of my creative practice. The subjects I photograph, the friends and colleagues I discuss my work with, the feedback I receive from the media are all critical to my work as an artist. The studio is the one space where I work alone to reflect, edit and review the images I’ve made. It’s a space that allows me to think critically about what images I want to make next.

As a result of the pandemic, many artists have experienced limited access to their studios or loss of exhibitions, income, or other opportunities. Has your way of working (or not working) shifted significantly during this time? Are there unexpected insights or particular challenges you’ve experienced?

I was lucky enough to not experience any limited access to my studio. My work did shift to focus on still life photographs rather than portraiture during the pandemic. I became a bit obsessed with Asian objects that I found at grocery stores. I wanted to explore similar themes I did in my portraits but instead use cultural ornaments. Because I was allowed to have so much free time during the pandemic, I also unexpectedly started reading more academic texts about the themes I wanted to pursue in my work.

To find out more about Jarod Lew check out their Instagram and website.