Queer it Yourself: Tools for Survival
June 4 – 24, 2011 (Opening Reception/Performance: June 4, 2011)
SOMArts, San Francisco, CA
Works in Exhibition:
Title: Medina-Huang Kitchen Peanut Sauce, 2011
Photographs:
Left row, from the top: 1) Coconut Milk Curry 2) Tofu Steak 3) Noodle Stir Fry
Right row, from the top: 4) First Batch 5) Dipping Sauce
Dimensions: variable
Medium: mixed-media installation
Artist’s Description:
Medina-Huang Kitchen is a creative response to the demands of capitalism and globalization. Challenging the notion of cultural authenticity and the norms of “family” business, I started making and selling peanut sauce (the recipe that I originally developed) with the help of queer families in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Not only is this peanut sauce business an evidence of strengthening queer support networks, it is also a diasporic queer cultural formation in a sense that it “queers” the meaning of “peanut sauce”—a condiment that is most often associated with traditional Thai culture—and expands the possibilities of cultural/culinary associations.
Special thanks to Jai Arun Ravine.