Sasha Gordon
I’ve found it hard to relate to an artist and their artwork because many of the artists I learned about when I was younger were white, and their subject matter was white as well. It was discouraging that the only artists that I was exposed to and knew were people that I couldn’t completely connect with.
— Sasha's quote from interview with Conor Hudnut in "Sasha Gordon's Paintings are Heavily Steeped in Her Exploration of Identity for Amadeus Magazine, 2018.
Temporary, 2018.
In a world where arts education is very much steeped in white eurocentric references, Sasha is helping to usher in new reference points. Through her eyes and self portraiture, she enters new imagery into the Asian-American diaspora and forges new roads of representation. Memories and introspective reflection yield surrealist scenes of anxiety, trauma, and vulnerability as she navigates life in a biracial body.
In "Flirting with No One," Sasha continues her exploration of her body and new mediums in a time of isolation during COVID. Using pastels, she’s able to still render the same polished finish as her oil paintings.
In "The Heroine," an amorphous admirer lurks behind as an unsurprised Asian woman gazes outward, as if to highlight the regularity of such fetishism. Through her figuration viewers get an up close look at the tensions of navigating between two cultures and the intersectionality of being a POC woman.
Drive Through, 2019. Image from artist's website.
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