Multi-cultural Recontextualizing of Taiwanese Identity Between Taiwan and the US: In-Between Spaces

Tara Lin-Jackson is the Editor in Chief of The New Absurdist, an online publication inspired by Carol Hanisch’s “the personal is political.” She graduated from Tufts University with a BA in Art History and a BFA in Fine Arts from the School at the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA). She is currently a graduate student at Taipei National University of The Arts (TNUA), attending as a Taiwanese student in the Study of Arts and Creative Industries International program (SAC).

As Editor in Chief of The New Absurdist, Tara leads a team of online curators and visual artists who work together to publish creative written works and initiative showcases with the goal of highlighting perspectives from marginalized groups about contemporary social and political issues. The New Absurdist team collaboratively illustrates covers for Editors’ Picks as part of an original art practice meant to elevate and highlight published pieces.

Tara’s current research focuses on the formation of identities based on social, cultural, racial, and political circumstances. As a bi-racial artist and researcher who traces her roots to Taipei and New York City, Tara has been investigating the intersectional realities that underlie and connect these distant geographic regions. In particular, she examines the extent to which identities are polymorphic, and how perception and environment play a complementary role in negotiating identity.

In this Brown Bag talk, Tara will share some of what she has researched about mixed-race identity in the context of the US and Taiwan. The talk will be based on both her academic research and lived experiences, and will cover topics like the role of art and writing in creating communities and third spaces for multi-cultural individuals.

Tara’s work has been featured in exhibitions like Make Art not War at the MoMA, Duct Tape Drawing and Painting Show at the SMFA, the Digital Design Studio Exhibition in the Tisch Library at Tufts, and The Dinner Table with the Asian Arts Alliance at NYU.