Cross Cultural Pictograms

From the Artist

I hope to resolve the conflict of a hyphenated cultural identity and to gain a deeper understanding that may give my American artmaking a resonance of my Chinese heritage.

Pictograms are a type of writing that uses images and visuals to convey meaning. Mei-ling Hom depicts invented symbols and the Chinese character for “center” (middle row, left), which is also used for the word “China” (or “center country”) in this work. She created symbols to express her feelings about her experiences in American schools, where she had few opportunities to learn about her heritage. “My American education taught me Latin, French, and Spanish before I pursued Chinese language classes in college,” Hom says. These images, wrapped in different textures, reflect her quest to weave the threads of her heritage with her own distinct persona. Mei-ling Hom is a Chinese American sculptor and installation artist. Cross Cultural Pictograms, 1992, is an edition of 60 offset lithographs and collage construction cut and scored by hand. Nine pictograms based on Asian and other cultural influences are printed on cut paper patterns and arranged in a grid format before being lifted off of a bright red background sheet by folding and gluing panels along its edges, giving the work depth. Historical references, personal experiences, a variety of ethnic perspectives, and cultural crosscurrents all have an impact on the grid format. The artist also draws parallels between China’s contribution to world art and the discovery of papermaking and printing.
_{—Adapted from https://sculpturemagazine.art/mei-ling-hom-cultural-voyaging/, accessed 6-23-2021, from  Brandywine Workshop and Archives records and “Fresh, Human and Personal: Signature of Brandywine Workshop,” Three Decades of American Printmaking: The Brandywine Workshop Collection (Manchester, VT: Hudson Hills Press, 2004)}