In Response to Orientalism
I am the modern "orientalist", specifying in Japonisme. I do not belong to the 19th century, and I am not a part of the realists and impressionists who started those movements. I belong to the confused group of multicultural mashups that find inspiration from other culture apart from their own. You could call me white american, I have fair skin and US citizenship. But my grandparents didn't. They were as lost as I am a hundred years ago when the immigrated to Hawai'i from Germany, puerto-rico, and potentially so many other places that I have no way of knowing. Hawaiian culture is the only thing I can somewhat relate to, because it is nothing but a large melting pot of Indigenous peoples, asians, latinos, europeans and americans. When I make art based on Japanese culture that I take inspiration from, I am usually greeted with one of two responses. The first is from the questionable, politically correct caucasian who likes the art, but is not sure if the appropriation of this work is offensive or not. These few people are extremely helpful to me, because they make me check my work not twice, but three times to make sure that any material I publish is not insensitive. The majority of the people who read my comic - Anime Goth which is a satire of Japanese anime/ 80s gothic cultures from an American perspective, is nothing but understanding, and respect for the references and research that goes into a project that is enamored with a separate culture, other than their own. Specifically the people from Japan, China and Korea who grew up with the subject matter that I respond to appreciate my work more than anyone else. They are the ones who push me to keep writing my series, which I am about to release my third installment of in the year that I've been publishing Anime Goth. The Artists from the 19th and 20th centuries that were dealing with cultures foreign and unique to them, although going about their work incorrectly were so intrigued by far-off cultures that they wanted to imagine what modern-life in a less advanced civilization could be. As worldwide trade and communication heightened, it was less of a mystery what these cultures were, and artists didn't have to make their own renderings anymore. Photographers and ethnographers could study these cultures in the flesh, and give humanity the truth about all walks of life on planet Earth. Now that we are existing in the 21st century, and continental boundaries have been broken, pure races and cultures are slowly blending into a giant grab-bag of every clashing combination under the sun. Most people studying cultures today most likely belong to more than one, if not dozens, like myself. We have moved from segregated colonies, intrigued by the outside world to a cross-colonizing species that will continue to mix into bigger and stronger combinations. The modern day orientalist is any artist or researcher delving into a society that they are unfamiliar, but for whatever reason intrigued or inspired by. When we reference other cultures we get a better understanding of the world we live in, and the more we distance ourselves from the cultures of our own the more ignorant and complacent we are in our contemporary melting pot.















