stephanie mei huang
how to paint a rocking horse, 2020
Vhs-c converted to digital, sound, windshield wiper motor, 12v power supply
11:26min.
Edition of 7 plus AC (3 editions)
Copyright The Artist
In the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, huang made the video “how to paint a rocking horse” in their kitchen while isolating at home. Amidst the terrorizing climate of...
In the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, huang made the video “how to paint a rocking horse” in their kitchen while isolating at home. Amidst the terrorizing climate of anti-Asian, particularly anti-Chinese, rhetoric in the United States that was heightened by the racist mythologies around the origins of Covid-19, huang stays in to deliver a lecture and paint a rocking horse. In this performative lecture, huang plays themself: an artist stuck at home, missing their family, and devastated by the news, forced isolation, and travel restrictions separating them from loved ones. They deliver a lecture as they would in a room full of people. huang reads aloud from their computer screen, projects their voice for an audience, pauses for effect, and appears physically impacted by the deeply personal narrative they share. - Sonya Merutka