GOOD GOOD MEMOREEZ
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We raised over $3,000 to support farm workers affected by the wildfires in the Bay Area!
With your support, we raised over $3,000 to support Bay Area farm workers affected by wildfires. Thank you!
Thanks again for all your entries and for sharing your stories. Due to the current climate from our devastating fires, we pivoted the proceeds from print sales to support our most essential workers. Your purchases help the efforts of Undocufund, an organization working directly with underserved communities displaced by the fires. We are all recipients of those who cultivate and harvest our foods, so there’s no better time to pay it forward than now. As always, thank you for your generosity!
Artists Turn Chinatown Food Memories Into Gorgeous Illustrations for a Good Cause
Here’s how our artists brought five unique memories to life. Our goal with this project was to connect our communities through shared experiences, and we couldn't be happier to see it did just that! Our deepest appreciation goes out to our 5 artists, Sarula Bao, Andy Busc, Sunny Chen, Kevin Dam, and Shuhua (Liz) Xiong for your generous time and imagination. Thank you for being a part of this project and shout out to Jocelyn Tsaih for pulling this collective together!
Our Garden
Artist: Kevin VQ Dam
Story by: May
May’s Memory
In the early 90s, at the corner of 90th and MacArthur in East Oakland, site of the weekend drag races and donuts, my mother organized our apartment building of a dozen southeast Asian immigrants and refugees to take over the abandoned acre of land next to the building and grow food. Overnight, they transformed the neighborhood into an oasis of Asian herbs and vegetables. Young and old were drawn from their homes to care for the plants. My mom would take her harvest to Oakland Chinatown and trade for other food. We didn’t have much, but we always ate very well.
From the Artist
I resonated with this story because of this family taking initiative, the community coming together, and the mutual care of a space and people through growing their own food and working with one another. I think stories like this really show us that people can come and take care of each other in many different circumstances.
Your Appetite is My Command
Artist: Andy Busc
Story by: Angela
Angela’s Memory
Massive Chinese banquets punctuated my childhood in LA Chinatown in the 70’s. I will never forget the sheer abundance of sights & sounds that comes to mind.
For a child, the word abundance wasn’t what I thought, I used to think it was a magic genie in the kitchen of these Chinatown restaurants, a cavernous din of lights, Cantopop music and chattering. Abundance of smells and fancy banquet dishes - everything gleaming, from shiny slicked back hair of older gentlemen to the sparkle of ice cubes in glasses. Seen from my view (imagine 3 little girls all dressed alike b/c my mom sewed the dresses from fabric gleaned from the sewing factory) and my older sibs escaping from this b/c one was a boy and the eldest already a high schooler who could escape the tyranny of being dressed alike. The magic kitchen genie offered platter upon platter of food!
From the Artist
I love imaginative stories with characters that exist beyond the realms of reality. After reading this story, I was immediately inspired by the magic kitchen genie that offered platter upon platter of food.
Forgetting the Time
Artist: Sarula Bao
Story by: Jody
Jody’s Memory
In college, Friday nights were fond memories of my friends and I venturing out to Richmond to karaoke and then to Shooting Star Cafe afterwards for some late night snacks. We’d order popcorn chicken, dinner plates to share, and desserts with chewy toppings because we could. It never felt late until we got home and it’d be close to 2 am.
From the Artist
I resonated with this memory that I could really see myself in today (were it not for the pandemic). I felt a rush of emotion for the friends that you go to Chinatown with. As an adult, Chinatown is no longer only a place I share with my parents, but it's become a place that I redefined for myself as an independent person, a place that I share with my found family of fellow queer Asian-Americans. We can hold close what made Chinatown special and treasured as children, while also transforming and adding to the meanings of these spaces as adults. These are the ways that Chinatown is meaningful to me, and why I really resonated with Jody's story, painting a bright and warm world of friendships that make you forget the time, where you can hop from karaoke room to restaurant and share big plates for dinner, in a neighborhood whose nature of resilience, care and strength as a community is a warm welcome.
心 (Heart)
Artist: Shuhua (Liz) Xiong
Story by: Sarah
Sarah’s Memory
In my heart, I have a soft spot for this little underground mall in Chinatown on Elizabeth Street. Visions of my childhood are colored by the vibrant scenery of Mott and Bayard leading up to Elizabeth—where my family would fill our bellies with congee and wontons, bring home boxes stuffed with egg custards, and carry bags overflowing with dragon-fruit and lychee.
After Chinese New Year, my sister and I would skip carelessly down those confetti-covered streets, clutching our lucky red envelopes, towards the underground mall. It was comprised of dozens of small toy and stationery shops, and we’d spend hours wandering through whimsical stores crammed with Hello-Kitty and robots and trinkets. Then, after careful deliberation, we’d trade in our lucky money for a beloved treasure. My favorite is a pink solar-powered friend that remains on my desk until this very day, though the shop no longer exists.
From the Artist
I resonated with the story because I've been in New York for nearly 9yrs now. Even though there are many new "trendy" Chinese or fusion restaurants in Manhattan, Chinatown is still the only place I think that has authentic food, by the authentic generation, cooking with heart. I know exactly the place Sarah is referring to lol! And I love congee and egg custards. I'm bad at cooking so I always go to Chinatown for quick bites bring back a dozen of egg custards, sometimes sponge cakes, for the rest of the week. Dates are also more fun in Chinatown restaurants. Usually I complain how crowded it is, but now It saddens me to see empty Manhattan Chinatown during Covid.
Another thing is that I have loved toy shops and stationary shops since I was a kid! I do wonder if Sarah has a photo of her pink toy? Is it a head nodding one? l would love to capture that. But also, Sarah's story gave me a strong nostalgic image in my head, which was why I chose it.
幸福就是挤在一起 (Happiness Is To Huddle)
Artist: Sunny Chen
Story by: Kimi
Kimi’s Memory
Every weekend, we would visit my grandmother who lived in a senior home in SF Chinatown near Broadway & Stockton. As we went through the building, seniors would pop their heads out the door to see who has visiting. In one building, exposed wires running along the ceiling, shared kitchen and bathroom for whole floor of people, chatting in her SRO with everything tightly packed around us (clothes hanging on the window to dry, food and dry goods on one side, small table in the middle of the room and using the mattress as a bench). Saturday shopping in the crowded streets, holding onto plastic bags in different colors that kept growing as we moved through the street, following her through the crowds and waiting on the sidewalk as she skillfully navigated her way through the crowds to get veggies, noodles, medicine and other items from each shop. Triumphantly holding the pink box of baos that were still warm and steamy and getting to dig into them once we got into the car to drive home.
From the Artist
Kimi’s memory teleported me right back to my childhood summers in Shanghai. As a kid, I would go visit some of my friends who lived in ShiKuMen homes(石库门). It was not uncommon for a single residence to be inhabited by dozens of families, living in creatively sub-dived rooms while sharing kitchens, bathrooms, and common spaces. To us, it was a dark maze with treasures, a paradise for hide and seek. Everywhere, random objects stacking, balancing on top of each other in the most impossible manner like modern art. Residents maneuvered through the never-ending narrow hallways, in and out of each door. Light would suddenly spill into the dark halls as a door opens, granting me a brief encounter with the world on the inside, it was always so quick, people were too afraid to let out any of their air-conditionings. The hallways came to live during mealtime, hot sizzling woks smoking up with the delicious aroma of the stir fry. Noisy kids laughing screaming running amongst bags of fresh produce, with their plastic slippers clapping the floor loudly. Especially as an only child, I was always jealous of this communal way of living, much more fun to me at the time than just staying in a spacious apartment with your parents. I know the exact crossroad mentioned by Kimi in San Francisco, now if I ever walk by it, I’d look up at the building and feel closer to home.
Read all the entries here!
Click into the stories marked "Winner!" to read more about why the artist chose that memory.Meet the Artists
Sarula Bao
Sarula Bao is a Chinese-American illustrator and graphic novelist based in Brooklyn. Her work explores aspects of Chinese culture, aesthetics, and narrative through a 2nd generation American experience. In 2017, she published a graphic novel, Lissa: A Story about Medical Promise, Friendship, and Revolution.
Andy Busc
Andy Busc is a Los Angeles based multidisciplinary artist who works in illustration, art direction, and graphic design. He creates diverse characters in a black and white world that focuses on identity and individuality with a playful twist. His work has been exhibited in Los Angeles, Tokyo, Paris, and Berlin.
Sunny Chen
Sunny Taiyang Chen is a San Francisco based creative from Shanghai. She is currently practicing design, photography, and art direction. Her work becomes other modes of her, expressing and existing in this world.
Kevin Dam
Kevin VQ Dam is a queer, Viet-American illustrator and printmaker. They love telling all kinds of stories through their work, but especially ones about interpersonal relationships, science, and cultural history. Kevin hails from Virginia and currently based in Oakland.
Shuhua (Liz) Xiong
Shuhua is hugely inspired by 70s, 80s airbrush art and sci-fis. Also her anime-infused childhood definitely shows up in her work. Her background is brand designer and recently shifting focus on illustration. She draws genuine feelings and emotions, which drives her to tell a more personal narrative.