Round 22: Jasmine Chock: Plastic Bag Lion Dance

From Cage Match Project:

“Cage Match Project is excited to present “Round 22: Plastic Bag Lion Dance” by multi-medium artist Jasmine Chock. “Plastic Bag Lion Dance” combines the Chinese tradition of Lion Dance with the ritual of saving plastic shopping bags to create a new Chinese American Lion species. The Lion Dance originated during the Han Dynasty in Guangdong, China, where Chock’s ancestors are from. Lion Dance performances recall legends of scaring off the destructive and terrifying monster, the Nian, to bring good luck, wealth, and prosperity and frighten evil spirits away during the Lunar New Year. While the Lions are traditionally red, a lucky color, Lions today come in different colors and appear at various celebrations. For example, white is a funeral color in Chinese culture. All white lions are either burned to send negative energy away and must also be burned when they become old or damaged or have served their purpose of protecting and bringing good fortune.

Check out www.cagematchproject.com to learn more about the Lion Dance tradition and experiences shared during the making of “Plastic Bag Lion Dance.”

Jasmine Chock is a Chinese American artist based in Austin, TX. Chock works in a wide range of 3D materials, photography, and video, including, but not limited to, sewing, ceramics, noodles, and plastic bags. In making art, she playfully explores the relationships between humans and the public, private, and personal objects and spaces they interact with. Chock takes inspiration from observing everyday routines and traditions and subverts their usual purposes, creating humorous, uncanny relationships.

Chuck graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art. She has shown work at the City of Austin Asian American Resource Center, The Museum of Human Achievement, and the Visual Arts Center. She is an artist, educator, and administrator. She has facilitated art-making workshops for youth, seniors, and adults of all abilities in Austin, TX, using printmaking, clay, paper maché, and fiber arts. Visit www.jasminechock.com to see more of her artwork.

Cage Match Project (CMP) gallery lives in an industrial caged-trailer. Measured at 20x8x7 feet, this weathered and rusted container resides in a gravel parking lot in Austin, TX where it is under constant exposure to the elements and 24-hour public viewership. By fully embracing the caged-trailer as both literal and conceptual context, Cage Match Project purposefully stages a narrative of the artist-at-odds, with either history, space, or a work of art itself.

Since 2017, through an open call process, with several exhibitions per year, CMP has hosted 21 Rounds of physical installations, 2 seasons of podcasts, 12 workshops all of which are created and led by the community and invited artists and collectives. In total, CMP has remained open and accessible for 2500+ days of public exhibits. Aside from exhibition openings, gallery hours, and public programming, CMP coordinates networking opportunities between emerging artists and Austin’s art community. CMP maintains a platform through in-person and digital events, highlighting and showcasing each artist’s practice to a national and international audience. The very nature of CMP is intersectional not as a theoretical term but as an everyday practice and lived experience.”