Asian Diasporic Zodiac: Wood Dragon, Archival Print

🌳🪵2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon. 🪵🌳The Wood Dragon is a part of my Asian Diasporic Zodiac, in which I reimagine the Zodiac animals as if they were informed by diaspora and the landscapes of Turtle Island / North America. This series is inspired by conversations with my Taiwanese mother.In conceptualizing the [Yang] Wood Dragon, I asked myself, what does a contemporary, diasporic dragon need to be? I found my answers while looking at dead trees along the coastline of what is today called Point Roberts, WA.In Chinese mythology, the Dragon is often considered a Yang symbol, embodying light, activation, and the masculine. The Dragon has historically been the emblem of emperors, and is placed in contrast to Yin symbols of the dark, passive, and feminine.But it is a gross misinterpretation to consider yin-yang to be a binary, and the semantics of the term are far older–and queerer–than the patriarchal structures that have shaped more recent Chinese history.In this Yang Wood Dragon, dea