Shin Yu Pai's Equivalence A Taiwanese-American Artist Expresses Herself Through Poetry Review and Interview by Emily Monroy Finding people who are good writers as well as good artists is no easy task. But one individual who possesses both talents is Shin Yu Pai, author of Equivalence. A poet and photographer, Ms. Pai studied at Boston University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and worked as a museum educator for the Dallas Museum of Art. Though poems of hers have previously been published in several literary and on-line journals, Equivalence is her first full-length poetry collection. The book takes its name after a series of cloud images by American photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Pai draws additional inspiration from a number of modern artists, like Wolfgang Laib, Felix Gonzales-Torres, Piet Mondrian, Joseph Cornell and Yoko Ono, all of whose names appear throughout Equivalence. In the poem “Equivalent” she makes direct reference to both Gonzales-Torres’ (a Cuban-American painter) and Stieglitz’s work: “At an exhibition of Felix Gonzales-Torres black and white clouds on paper bleed to edge the slow drift and pull of clouds soaring across the horizon weather forecast over Stieglitz’s Lake George” Indeed art, from Dutch landscape painting to Japanese scroll making, is a constant presence in Equivalence. Images of nature – clouds, sky, rocks, mountains and other elements – also figure prominently in the book. The theme of nature is enhanced by descriptions of animals, such as insects in “A Fly Lands on the Great Eastern Sun,” the family pet mourning its master in “Dog Story,” and birds catching fish in “Cormorant Fishing.” ____________________________________ Art, from Dutch landscape painting to Japanese scroll making, is a constant presence in Equivalence. ____________________________________ Just as Ms. Pai makes connections between poetry and the visual arts, she frequently combines elements from Eastern and Western cultures. This may stem from her personal experience in a bilingual household as a child of Taiwanese immigrants to the United States. Many of her poems contain mentions of various aspects of Asian history, art, food and religion. For example, she describes the history of paper-making in China in “Recipe for Paper,” scroll making in Japan (“Fall Aster with Firefly”), and Chinese New Year celebrations in Taiwan in “Transcience.” Eastern religion, particularly Buddhism, plays a major role in Equivalence (not surprisingly, as Shin Yu Pai studied at the Buddhist Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado). In a particularly interesting poem, “Office Feng Shui,” a specialist explains the concept of “feng shui” at a Buddhist college. We learn that fish are a symbol of prosperity and good luck in China, an interesting fact given that the fish is an early symbol of Christianity and now of the Roman Catholic Church. “Sainte Terrer” describes the custom of Buddhist monks going out to “beg” in the neighbourhood with a bowl in their hands. Though most of the religious imagery in Equivalence pertains to Buddhism, the author makes mention of Hinduism and Hindu-derived religions as well. In “It Was a Clear Moonlit Night (or How the Moon Got Its Rhythm)” she refers to the “dumpling theft by greedy god Ganesh” (the elephant-headed Hindu god of education and wisdom), while “Monasticism” tells of a Hare Krishna monk distributing copies of the Bhagavad Gita outside a Methodist chapel. In “Monasticism” Pai emphasizes the monks’ celibacy – among their achievements is their “contribution to population control,” and when asked why men and women do not dance together in temple rituals, one monk responds, “We are monks. We get excited when we dance with girls.” (The concept of dancing as an invitation to sin is also a feature of Christian-based cultures: hence the joke that Christians never have sex standing up because people might think they are dancing.) ____________________________________ In “Monasticism” Pai emphasizes the monks’ celibacy – among their achievements is their “contribution to population control.” ____________________________________ Equivalence addresses intercultural contact as well. Pai mixes aspects of different cultures in a seemingly random fashion in “True or False,” where “rock candy arrived in Japanese teahouses via Portugal,” and in “Things Which Give Pleasure,” which lists “Tapas [a Spanish dish], sushi, carrot cake” among such pleasurable indulgences. While here there is no sense of cultural conflict, in other instances groups and traditions clash. At times this takes place on a religious level, like in “Monasticism,” where a Hare Krishna monk convinces a woman at a Methodist church to visit his temple, or in “The Baptism” when a child baptized as a Christian later converts to Buddhism. Outright cultural conflict is the subject of “World vs. Bromberg.” A - presumably white - couple wishes to build a new front door to their house, but their Chinese neighbours oppose it on the grounds that a door directly opposite their own would suck the energy out of their home and violate the principle of Feng Shui, “the philosophy of living with versus against nature.” The court eventually rules in the Chinese family’s favor. Some might read this as the triumph of East over West, even if Pai never states so openly. To discover more about Equivalence, I decided to speak to Shin Yu Pai herself. Here is my interview with her. Emily Monroy: You describe yourself as the child of Taiwanese immigrants. Were you born in Taiwan, and if so, how old were you when you came to the United States? If you were born in the US, have you spent extended periods of time in Taiwan or any other part of Asia? Shin Yu Pai: I was born in the United Stated, in the Midwest to be specific. My folks moved us out to California when I was very young and I grew up in the Inland Empire, east of Los Angeles. I had minimal contact with other Asian families/kids growing up and did not have the opportunity to travel to Taiwan until I was an adult. I have gone back to my parents’ homeland twice in the last five years - it is a very different place than the Taiwan that they knew. I am still making sense of what the culture means to me - the parts that mean something to me, the parts I cannot relate to. I imagine that I will spend my life returning to these places over and over again. Emily: Have you ever written poems or anything else in Chinese? Shin Yu: I have never written in Chinese, but I have ventured into the area of translation. In 1997, my father approached me about working together to translate ancient poems from T’ang Dynasty China. I was at that time taking a translation class at the Naropa Institute, and it seemed like the right moment to work on this kind of project. Through translating these short poems, I came to deepen my understanding and appreciation for Chinese culture, its symbols, stories and references. Our collaborative translation resulted in the publication of a small bilingual chapbook called Ten Thousand Miles of Mountains and Rivers, which was released by Third Ear Books in 1998. Emily: You say you have been influenced by Chinese and Japanese literary traditions. Which traditions are these, and how specifically have they influenced your work? Shin Yu: The Chinese and Japanese poetic traditions have had a large influence on my sensibilities. The way in which devotion is explored, images are used, nature is recorded, myth is woven throughout a work through symbolism. The short form, economy of language, these are all important things I have learned from reading poets from the East, the poets of the T’ang Dynasty, the female poets of Heian Period in Japan. Emily: You mention a great deal about religion in Equivalence. Do you see any conflict between Christianity and Eastern religions such as Buddhism? I know some members of the Asian-American community have converted to Christianity in recent years, so I am wondering if that has been an issue with you or anyone you have known well, and if so, whether it caused any problems or rifts. Shin Yu: Buddhism is a very accommodating worldview and religion. The Dalai Lama often encourages spiritual seekers to embrace the traditions from which they come from, but to also take and learn from Buddhism what they can. The principle teachings of all world religions are very similar – finding a way to work with human suffering, the cultivation and practice of compassion for all living beings – in this way, no I don’t see a major conflict, or competition between spiritual paths, so much as a mutual co-existence. But it’s important to note that the conceptual language of these religions is at times very different, and that is where I see the breakdown in communication and dialogue happening. ____________________________________ Buddhism is a very accommodating worldview and religion. ____________________________________ Emily: Do you see hope of any alliances between different Asian groups? Shin Yu: Parallels and commonalities between cultural groups can always be found. While I do see certain cultural groups joining with others to organize efforts and collective interests, the fact is that every cultural group has its own unique political and social agenda that can sometimes be inhibiting. I use as an example, various Taiwanese Americans I have known. Many first generation Taiwanese American immigrants feel passionately about independence in their native land and will actually fly back to Taiwan to cast their votes during elections and labor tirelessly to promote democracy in their country, yet domestically, these same individuals give up their right to vote in this country, feeling that these issues are not in some way their own. In discussions I have had with some Taiwanese, the parallel between Tibet and Taiwan does not at all seem obvious, and it would seem that this would be an area where two cultures could easily form a strong alliance, yet the connection does not seem to be made. Emily: Are any of your poems based on personal experience? Shin Yu: It would probably be fair to say that a lot of my work draws from real life. From art and artists, people I meet, things I read about in the newspaper or books. I am very interested in the intimate and direct experience versus the abstract. Many of the art poems in Equivalence “De Stijl,” “Poem,” “Feedback” were all based on my experiences of artwork in the Dallas Museum of Art where I spent extensive time† “Poem for Art Handlers” is a whimsical take on the unique issues which face those working in a museum environment.“Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion” was a piece I wrote in the galleries in the Art Institute of Chicago. I had given myself an assignment to write a poem based on a folded screen, when the poem was rather delightfully interrupted by real life imposing itself on the creative process. Emily: In what type of visual arts have you engaged? Shin Yu: I’ve been into photography since I was very young. My parents gave me my first camera when I was in the 2nd grade an old Minolta TravelPak camera that makes square photos. I still have it! Today I shoot mostly with a 35mm or my toy Holga a plastic camera that can create very ambient, dreamscapes. I’m interested in black and white landscape and still life primarily. In recent years, I’ve ventured into the field of book arts which seems to provide the structure to be able to bring together text and image, and is such a physical/tactile experience in general, the details of a book’s binding, how type is set and reproduced, images transferred – all of those fine details has a great appeal to me. Emily: How has Alfred Stieglitz influenced Equivalence? Shin Yu: Stieglitz has always been very interesting to me for many reasons – as a photographer, as a gallery owner, as a publisher. Like many artists I have admired, Stieglitz moved seamlessly between his many interests. It is his series of cloud photographs, The Equivalents, his major work, that most influenced my process. Stieglitz likened the photographs he took to the actual living experience of the sky. This idea of art paralleling life, as ever present, is an idea that is very close to my own heart. Emily: Would you say at this point writing or the visual arts is your principal career or vocation? Shin Yu: While the majority of my work that is available in the world is poetry based, my overall vision is one of moving towards the creation of a body of work that allows for multiple disciplines to co-exist – installation, visual text pieces... even the poems in Equivalence point to that interest in a seamless translation and transition between art forms. All of the practices I engage in are part of a larger vision that I am working towards bringing together. Emily: Thank you for your time and for choosing Urban Mozaik. Equivalence is published by La Alameda Press and is the recipient of a 2003 grant from the Cambridge Arts Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. See the press release for Equivalence in Urban Mozaik’s books section. Emily Monroy is a professional translator and is of Irish, Italian and Norwegian descent. Born in Windsor, Ontario, she now resides in Toronto. Her articles have appeared in several publications, including Interracial Voice, Cats Canada, and Urban Mozaik. She welcomes feedback on her articles.You can contact Emily at emonroy@beachestoronto.com This article was originally published in Interracial Voice Magazine. This website: Copyright © 2004 Dream World Media, LLC. / Urban Mozaik Magazine. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in Urban Mozaik Magazine are not necessarily those of Urban Mozaik Magazine and the publisher cannot be held responsible for them. This website/publication, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.