"Lotus Blossom in the Pond" by A. Mei-Li Blevins

Watercolor

22"x30"

This piece was inspired by my reflections on the racial stereotypes Asian women face in the Western world and the violence against us. When thinking of this piece, I specifically am reminded of the targeted hate crime that took the lives of six Asian women in Atlanta during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when being Asian was extremely scary. The attacker had misplaced his frustrations in finding romantic relationships and proceeded to attack innocent people. This painting depicts the aftermath of an attack on the subject, with her being left in a body of water. 

“Lotus Blossom” is a name for a type of Asian woman that appears in cinema, like “Dragon Lady,” or “Tiger Mom,” but the “Lotus Blossom” is an Asian woman who is docile, naive, and submissive. She usually falls in love with an American man who saves her from her hardships in her native country, examples including Miss Saigon or Madame Butterfly. One could argue that what we see in fiction does not affect reality, but the complete opposite is true. What media communicates to us directly influences our perception. The “Lotus Blossom,” is a racial stereotype that boils Asian women down to passive, non-confrontational prizes to be given away in someone else’s story, and they are often conflated with real Asian women. All too often, when she does not fit into the stereotype, real people face retaliation. 

The woman in this piece wears headwear and makeup similar to that of a geisha, a figure whose image has been distorted over and over to the point that her profession is wildly misinterpreted. Especially after WWII, misunderstanding by American soldiers occupying Japan further blurred the line between geisha and courtesan. So, in this work, I have taken the image of a geisha, a person in a widely misunderstood profession, and depicted the aftermath of what happens when real people do not fit into the stereotypes defined for them. But, what is able to thrive and grow from this environment are lotuses, which in Buddhism often represent immortality and purity. They also represent perseverance and resilience as they grow from mud. The way something so beautiful is able to exist through the muck inspires others to always rise above the conditions they find themselves in.