“An intimate story about the fluidity of borders and time, Virginia Grise’s site-specific performance installation rasgos asiáticos examines migration and displacement, and unearths hidden histories in the confluence of China, Mexico, and the United States. Created in collaboration with designer Tanya Orellana, rasgos asiáticos is a constructed space for personal and political excavation, revealed through inherited stories, fragmented memories, historical re-imaginings, and recurring dreams.
In Los Angeles’ Chinatown, large-scale cargo crates offer audiences a series of vivid environments that use sound, light, and objects to conjure narratives of immigration and migration in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands. Each visually-distinct station offers music and poems recorded on vinyl, filling the plaza with sound from individual record players. As viewers move in and out of these sensory experiences, their exploration leads to encounters with live performance elements directed by Alexis Macnab.”
Unfortunately due to COVID-19 the production was put on pause until further notice. The photos provided are what came out of the Virginia Grise’s online artist talk to make up for the lack of performance.
While creating props and set dec, I designed Piñata- lanterns and lead a workshop to have the community to come and build lanterns. It was important to the team to not only connect with the community with this piece but also have them come and contribute a bit of their story too.
Writer: Virginia Grises
Director: Alexis Macnab
Scenic Designer: Tanya Orellana
Props Maker: Sharon Gahlla
Photos by: Gema Galiana