In the blistering Texas heat, on a Saturday afternoon, Asian American creatives strolled into the coffee shop Civil Pour in Dallas for a Dallas Asian American Art Club meeting.
鈥�I'm just really excited to meet everyone else,鈥� said Evangelina Hsu, who is Taiwanese American and has worked as a 3-D artist. She has an where she sells food-themed stickers and merchandise she designs, which depict everything from the ramen in the "" to Japanese fruit sandwiches.
The , which was launched in February by , started out with just a handful of people. Now, it鈥檚 a once or twice-a-month gathering of about 15 Gen-Z and Millenials. It鈥檚 a space where people can pursue their creative interests in their own way, whether they want to socialize, work on their latest project or just get feedback.
鈥�It's just anyone who is Asian American and wants to be creative. You don't even have to do that as your full-time job,鈥� Hahn said.
Hahn, who is Korean American and the creative director of the , said she created the club because she struggled to find people who shared the same cultural fluency to challenge her work in a nuanced way.
鈥淗ow a lot of Americans view Asian art and being Asian is very flat and very stereotypical,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o how do we move beyond that and how do we create art that is uniquely Asian American? I need people who are uniquely Asian American to be able to give me that type of feedback.鈥�
For Asian American creatives, embracing their distinctive voice can feel like an act of defiance. On one hand, there鈥檚 defying the cultural pressure from parents and relatives to pursue non-creative jobs.
鈥�I grew up with that same narrative of, like, 鈥楢rt is not a sustainable field.鈥� 鈥楾here is no way that you're going to be able to put food on the table,鈥� 鈥� said Rachel Tse, a graphic designer for a Dallas-based agency. 鈥淪o I feel like my entire life I have been rebelling against that narrative or that voice inside my head.鈥�
On the other hand, Asian American creatives are defying stereotypes.
鈥淵ou look at all of the major culture that is going on today in America that a lot of it has Asian roots,鈥� Hahn said. 鈥淪o why are you trying to say that we're not creative just because y'all prefer us to be crunching numbers for you or being tidy for you?鈥�
Tse, who is Chinese American, said the club is exactly the kind of space she needed starting out. She is currently working with a friend on an apparel line they hope to launch this year.
, who is Indian American, works in Dallas as a digital marketing specialist and is also an actor, writer, filmmaker and poet.
He recently wrote a collection of acrostic poems called "Linguistic Therapy" based on 50 words from his native language of Telugu.
鈥淪o my sales pitch is even if the poems are bad, you learn 50 words of a different language,鈥� he said with a chuckle.
For Narra, who recently relocated from Houston, the club and Dallas at large is where he鈥檚 coming into his own as an artist.
鈥淚n Dallas, it's like where I've actually gotten to see, OK, what can I bring to another space or where am I? Like, me kind of discovering my actual voice.鈥�
The club also celebrates that Asian American creatives and their work don鈥檛 need to look one way. , who is Taiwanese Chinese, balances being a writer and a full-time job as a compliance program manager. Last year, she published an Asian Western young-adult sci-fi novel "."
鈥�I wanted something that was unapologetically Asian Western, like no need to explain anything else,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 just wanted a story that we could all relate to a little more.鈥�
Hahn said in the future, she hopes to host an art market and create an exhibition featuring artists from the club.
鈥淚 want people to feel not alone,鈥� Hahn said. 鈥淭hat's my No. 1 priority, that you can be all of who you are and do all of what you want to do.鈥�
Want to join the Dallas Asian American Art Club? Follow on Instagram.
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