I didn’t think I’d be able to fall in love with a mask until I saw the ones Julia Kwon was making for her Unapologetically Asian series. I met Julia few years ago during a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, where she was making giant textile pieces out of Korean fabrics—words fail, but her images help.
She describes the face mask pieces as follows:
The work is in response to the fact that preventative mask worn especially by Asian people has largely been perceived as an unnecessary overreaction, a proof of illness, or an open invitation to commit hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now a growing number of officials and health experts argue that people should wear non-medical fabric masks in public to help prevent spread of the virus. Kwon's work unapologetically embraces her ethnic identity to confront coronavirus-related racism that is prevalent today.
While it has nothing to do with her concept for the project, I feel like I have the most exotic beak in the entire grocery store so attired. Given the scope of denial about the virus, I figure imagining myself as a bird while out doing errands is nothing.