[Editor’s Note: SAMPAN first spoke with sculptor Wen-Ti Tsen nearly two years ago as he was preparing for the opening of his exhibit “Chinatown Worker Statues: A Statue In the Making.” As noted in his artist statement, the mission of this art is to examine “the intersectionalities of people, work, and forms of social constructs.” The exhibit opened October 27, 2023. Interested readers can still see the exhibit through its closing day, February 17, 2024.]
Arranging the assorted tools at his workspace, Wen-Ti Tsen stood adjacent to a clay sculpture at the Pao Arts Center. Resembling the appearance of the famed terracotta warrior, the figure depicted was a laundryman. The character represents one of the four workers that make up the Chinatown Worker Statues project, an initiative commemorating the historical occupations of Chinese immigrants.
Born in Shanghai, Tsen left China at the age of 13 following WWII. After growing up in Europe, the artist continued his journey of exploring art and soon developed a penchant for creating works characterizing the cultures of different communities. Initially, he disliked being taught Chinese philosophy in a Confucian manner, but Tsen later learned to love it.
Sampan recently spoke with Tsen about the significance of his efforts and the lengthy process of this project, both in coordinating the undertaking and crafting these statues.
“I see the greatness of our immigrant community,” he said.
Each of the four molds, eventually to be cast in bronze, illustrates a different role once common to Chinese immigrants in Chinatown.
One figure portrays a laundryman with his hand on a load of laundry while another exhibits a restaurant worker cutting up a roast duck, a traditional Chinese dish. These two positions were occupied by young men due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which prohibited women and children from entering the country. Following the repeal of this law, the arrival of many families prompted a shift in culture and work. From the technological advancements of the 1960s, such as the rise of laundromats, additional hand-wash laundry workers were no longer necessary. Hence, female immigrants started working in garment factories; this situation explains the third statue, an individual toiling with a sewing machine.
“Garment workers usually worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or regular hours. The cooks often started at 3 in the afternoon and worked until midnight. In many cases, they didn’t work in Chinatown, but in far-away suburbs and surrounding states,” Tsen said.
As a result, many families had grandparents come and live with them. Their responsibilities would mirror a typical parent’s: taking care of the children, preparing meals, and other duties of that nature. Designing the fourth and final statue as a grandmother with her grandchild, Tsen delineated, “I consider the grandparents very much as a worker, even though they weren’t paid with wages. They worked all day and took care of everything in the house when the parents were working.”
A notable development from the parents’ constant labor was the increasing disconnect of families “being Chinese.” A myriad of reasons contributed to this notion, particularly the linguistic barrier. As English became the dominant language for the children, coupled with a lack of close association with their parents, both parties slowly started losing the basic principles of what “being Chinese” constituted. Only the influence of grandparents conveying important values to younger generations would incite greater activism for equality and anti-discrimination, showing the vitality of the child being able to carry on the Chinese heritage and tradition.
“The child and grandmother is actually the most important one for me…the child has that look that his future is being created at that moment. The grandmother realizes that I’m responsible for giving the child the energy to go far and become somebody.”
While these statues pay tribute to the progress of Chinese Americans, they also reflect the racial discrimination immigrants faced.
“[The laundryman] could be a photographer or writer in China, but America did not allow that kind of profession. The only job available to him was washing dishes or clothes,” he said. “I don’t want him to be a generic person. I see a history behind him. At this counter, this is his domain and he has an agency over it. Once over that border, he will face all kinds of prejudice that is out of his control. But when he’s standing there, I want to show he has a lot of capability and dignity within himself that he has a life and future.”
This idea is demonstrated through the statues looking directly at the viewer rather than at their work to accentuate the sense of compassion.
As Tsen works, he keeps the Buddha above his station, citing him as an inspiration.
“He has an expression of not doing anything in particular and has a face you cannot exactly describe. This is what I want to convey in the statues.” The gravity of the relationship between these inanimate objects and the viewer dials down to the latter not being able to pinpoint a statue’s thoughts or project one’s own beliefs into the figure; this quality is what Tsen considers the framework of a good sculpture.
Speaking on his experiences of being in Chinatown, Tsen asserted, “When I first came, I realized the Chinese culture in Chinatown was quite different. The way they talk, the way food is cooked…it was not until I was 50 that I started to connect more with the Chinatown community.” The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture recently provided $1 million to fund the project, and once completed, these statues will be placed at various locations around Chinatown. In all, Tsen hopes the viewers looking at these workers see the duality of them being fully Chinese and American.
