Cathy Lu: Interior Garden

Abstract

A striking pair of colossal ceramic eyes marks the entrance to Cathy Lu’s solo exhibition Interior Garden , commissioned by the Chinese Culture Center (CCC) Francisco. The eyes are shocking not because they peer out from behind the center’s circular moon gate but because they do so from within the Hilton San Financial District Hotel, located in the city’s iconic Chinatown neighborhood. Ensconced on the third floor of the Hilton, the CCC works, from inside this of tourism, to give the Chinese community and greater diaspora more visibility through free programs, and exhibitions for long-term residents and outside visitors alike. 1 This exhibition was developed the two of the pandemic — a of isolation, political scapegoating, and a rise in anti-Asian attacks. Thus, it is not surprising that Lu — an American artist of Chinese and Taiwanese descent — drew inspiration from another retreat-like setting: the Chinese garden. By echoing the structure of a Chinese garden, Interior Garden presents four cohesive installations, calibrated to the site, that grapple with themes of Asian American identity and tenets of the “American Dream.”