The work investigates how we grapple with our identities, often engaging notions of tradition, family, heritage, body, and presentation. Much like the practice of calligraphy, I have found that daily practice of figurative drawing teaches my body how to hold and channel the faces and expressions of community members. I am interested in how this muscle memory and intuition manifests the expressions and presences of people in my community. In my performances I connect the millenia old tradition of large-scale live calligraphy performance to my background in Queer performance, drag, gogo-boy, and gymnastics aesthetics. By combining this performance with Queer culture and looks, I aim to celebrate the existence of Queer lives in both traditional culture and Asian identity.

Vincent Chong (莊志明) is a Queer mixed-race Chinese-American artist and educator working in Chinese calligraphy, seal carving, painting, drawing, and performance. Vincent’s practice is a restorative act to recenter QTAPI folx in art and cultivate community-centered creativity. They paint portraits of members of the QTAPI community and organize QTBIPOC-centered workshops. Vincent is a student of calligrapher Wu Wen-Sheng (吳文勝). They have shown work at Bodeguita 718, The Museum of Chinese in America, Site Brooklyn, and PAAM. In May 2022 Vincent will have their first solo show at Skånes Konstförening Gallery in Malmö, Sweden curated by Grace Chang. Residencies include Gallim Moving Artist residency, Fire Island Residency, the WOW Project Storefront Residency, and Book Artist Residency at The Center for Book Arts. Performances include MoMA PS1, Abrons Art Center, Movement Research at Judson Church, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Center for Book Arts.