The S Gesture

Ming Wong's research interest in the history of Chinese Opera expanded into an exploration of the way Asian characters have been represented on stage and on screen. Working with stills of early 20th century films that cast white actors in Asian roles, a cinematic tradition known as "yellow face", Wong decolonises these characters by meticulously erasing by hand the the features of the actors in The Lady from S, (2022) and The S Gesture, (2022). The act seeks to undo the exaggerated caricaturisation and ethnic stereotyping of Asians in such films, creating portals by which a more nuanced representation of Asian culture and ethnicity might be reimagined.