Artist Feature: Fen Hsu
The Artist's Notebook
*
The Artist's Notebook *
Fen is from the United States and has cultural roots in Taiwan. She is one of IHRAM’s treasured artists. In this interview, she shares her musings, inspiration, and honest thoughts on her experience with us as an artist and activist.
Her latest feature with IHRAM Press is her artwork, Wisdom of the Rooted in the 2024 IHRAM Quarter 4 Literary Magazine: Indigenous Voices.
Thank you for all you do, Fen.
Now, be honest, how has your experience been with IHRAM Press? How did you find us and why did you choose to publish with us?
It is inspiring to be included in the IHRAM Indigenous Voices issue. I appreciated having my art featured alongside artists such as Lareina Abbott (@boneblackstories) and the glimpse into the culture and spirituality of Indigenous peoples, especially as contrasted with the psychology of Western materialism.
Would you recommend IHRAM Press to other writers/artists?
Definitely! There is a sense of freedom and hope when artists come together to elevate ideas beyond parameters set by society and economic systems.
Share the artwork published in IHRAM Literary Magazine 2024/ or another piece that represents your Art Statement!
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
"WISDOM OF THE ROOTED”
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO FEN HSU
Now for the fun questions! What compels you to pick up a pen or open your laptop to free-write? And what inspires/influences your art/writing, particularly when it comes to addressing human rights issues?
One of my pieces, "Orca Love Found on Mars," for example, frames fascination with space exploration against the greater yearning for kinship. There is a sense of loss in our disregard for the organic and wild, in favor of technology and the aggrandizement of the reductive technocratic mind in the quest for Mars.
The human rights concerns addressed in the IHRAM literary magazine are often complex and challenging to navigate. How do you navigate the balance between highlighting these challenges and maintaining a sense of hope or optimism in your writing?
Human rights discussions combine many threads from historical examination to the implications of current events. Art and literature mirror the threads of cause and motivation, but reveal the complexity as affirmation of higher nature and nobility.
How do you personally connect with our mission? Particularly on the power of art and literature to influence social change, and our values of beauty as a fundamental creative principle, sincerity, vulnerability, celebrating diversity, and opening doorways of engagement.
IHRAM represents issues around human rights without propaganda or polarizing speech, but with the idea that imagination brings in high relief the innate predilection to understanding and connection in human nature.
The IHRAM magazine aims to celebrate authors contending with their identities within the context of their environments. How does your environment influence your view of the world (your home country, city, and surrounding culture)?
Being a second-generation Taiwanese-American means I was raised with the work ethic of my immigrant parents, who spoke broken English but flourished in America despite the language barrier. At the same time, my education in America encouraged exploration of literature and the arts as expressions of individual creativity.
In comparison, how does your intersectionality influence your view of the world (your personal beliefs, gender expression, religious affiliations, etc.)?
There is some intersectionality in being a technologist and an artist and writer, as well as being a Taiwanese-American. This medley of characteristics means that I prefer precision on topics, versus sweeping generalizations and identity as a political tool.
Support Activist Artists
*
Support Activist Artists *
Enjoy all of Fen’s previously published work:
in “Voices of Regeneration: Cycles of Hope” - December 2024 – Unearthodox
You can find Fen on Instagram.
