The Red Pipe Gallery Presents:
Growing Up “In Between”– a solo exhibition by Stephinie Touch
November 20 – November 30
Wednesday – Saturday, noon to 5:00 p.m. (closed Thanksgiving)
Opening night celebration: November 23, 6:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Red Pipe Gallery, 978 Chung King Road, Los Angeles, CA 90012
In her work, Stephinie Touch deals with issues of marginalization as a person belonging to multiple cultures. As an Asian American, she grew up questioning where she belonged, feeling rebuffed in America and lost in Asia. Asian Americans are a people of opposing personalities and identities. They are torn between their two worlds—Asian culture and American culture—as they struggle with their sense of belonging and where they fit in, ultimately feeling rejected by both societies and, thus, belonging to neither.
Touch’s work contemplates identity and identification, displacement and the desire to belong, as she navigates the “in-between space” in which a person of multiple cultures must exist. While seemingly eclectic, her work tells a story of conflict, confusion, and the cultivation of a sense of home in her attempt to combat these feelings of a split identity and not belonging; moving away from internalized racism to recognition of the importance of one’s own culture to her acceptance of a bicultural identity.
Gaps, wide empty spaces, margins and lines are prominent elements in her work as they create separation, accentuate differences, and denote that “in-between space.” She pulls in different elements from her two cultures, bringing them together in her work to create spaces that are both familiar and foreign. Red thread is an important part of ritual in Asian cultures and its use throughout her work links her to Asian tradition as well as symbolically strengthening her ties to the place which she calls home.
New Arrivals: CSULA Graduate Students Take on L.A.
Along with the Graduate Thesis Exhibition of Stephinie Touch, The Red Pipe Gallery presents new artworks from nine CSULA graduate students from the Department of Art, who will complete their MA or MFA degrees in this academic year (fall 2013-spring 2014). Representing the Studio Arts, Design, and the Fashion and Textile Options, these nine students selected one of their strongest and most representative works to include in this survey exhibition of CSULA graduate program in Art.
A group exhibition featuring:
Lauren Becker
Kelly Blunt
Toby Allan Bresson
Carlos J. Chavez
Jessica Gutierrez
Michelle L. Lopez
Collin Stafford
Lisa Diane Wedgeworth
Yiheng Yu
Directions to the Gallery: The Gallery is located in Chinatown's Arts District on historic Chung King Road. Chung King Road is a walking street that parallels Hill Street, just north of College. Easy access is from the 110 freeway, and via public transportation (Metro Gold Line Chinatown stop or Metro bus lines 90/91, 94/794, 81, and 96 on Hill Street).
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