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- Choreographing Identity Across Borders: Artnet's 6 Asian Artists to Watch: History, Migration, and Politics
Choreographing Identity Across Borders: Artnet's 6 Asian Artists to Watch: History, Migration, and Politics
Artnet by Cathy Fan & Vivienne Chow
Choreographing Identity Across Borders
Steph Huang, installation view of "The Water that Bears the Boat", Cherry Bakewell Sundae, 2024, 2024. © Steph Huang. Photo © Marc Doradzillo
My Thoughts: For those of us moving between cultures, migration is the ultimate act of skating on thin ice—a constant negotiation of balance, heritage, and the "thin" surfaces of citizenship. These six artists use their practice to witness the political frictions of our time, turning the struggle for belonging into a graceful intervention. By mapping histories of displacement, they show us that true elegance is found when we dare to move across borders that were never meant to support us.
Naraphat Sakarthornsap, A Hopeless Hope (2025), on view at Art SG 2025. Courtesy of the artist and SAC Gallery.
Facts:
This group of artists utilizes multidisciplinary approaches—from sculpture to performance—to deconstruct the "Asian Diaspora" experience.
Their work focuses on the "politics of the body," examining how labor and migration leave physical marks on the individual.
Many of these artists are gaining institutional traction by subverting traditional crafts to tell stories of contemporary resistance.
The feature highlights a shift in the art world toward "witness-bearing," where the artist's biography is inseparable from their formal aesthetic choices.
“Insiders” by Brendan Fernandes