KAYAN MAKES COMICS

Kayan Cheung-Miaw 張嘉欣 (she/they) is a mama, artist, organizer, and educator based in North Carolina. Originally from Hong Kong, raised in New York’s Chinatown, Kayan's art aims to humanize those who have been dehumanized by sharing the stories of marginalized communities. As an organizer in San Francisco, Kayan’s leadership in the Yank Sing restaurant workers’ campaign resulted in a historic $4 million settlement for 280 workers. Kayan earned their MFA in Comics from the California College of the Arts, her BA in Gender Studies from Smith College, and they earned a Master of Arts in Teaching: Urban Education & Social Justice from the University of San Francisco. Their piece, "Dear Brother," is collected in the anthology Artists Against Police Brutality. hello (at) kayancomics.com © 2005-2022 Kayan Cheung-Miaw

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The "Chinatown: Love Struggle, Resistance" posters are up on San Francisco's Market Street!

Photos by Craig Corpora of the San Francisco Arts Commission Last photo by Mama of Vida Kuang

To view all 6 posters by Vida Kuang and myself, in English, Chinese, Spanish and Tagalog: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfac/albums/72177720300544664

Chinatown: Love, Struggle, Resistance is part of the The Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series. This series is a project of the San Francisco Arts Commission  and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency  

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An interactive digital comic, to experience: https://comics.cca.edu/digital/16cheungmiaw/kayan_cover.html

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Chinatown: Love, Struggle, Resistance

In Chinese and Tagalog/Filipino. View all six posters in Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog and English: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfac/albums/72177720300544664

On display on San Francisco’s Market Street MUNI bus kiosks August  - October 2022

© Kayan Cheung-Miaw & Vida Kuang

Artists’ Statement

In a few years, the San Francisco Chinatown we know may not exist anymore.

Even before the pandemic, Chinatown had many empty storefronts while hungry developers waited close by. Tenants were vulnerable to displacement due to lack of protection and economic instability. The pandemic also escalated the dehumanization of our AAPI communities through racist scrapgoating.

Our poster series highlights the stories of Chinatown’s mothers, workers and tenants. The comics foreground the themes of love, community, survival, and resistance.

Having our community members’ stories visible and centered through Market Street’s kiosks is a part of ensuring the Chinatown we call home will survive in post-pandemic San Francisco.

Chinatown: Love, Struggle, Resistance is part of the The Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series. This series is a project of the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

The Stories Behind the Comics

Most of the stories for this project are inspired by the oral history project “Our Intergenerational Stories 歲月心聲: 家 ” where mothers, women, tenants and workers are invited to tell their own stories. Listen and read the stories that inspired this poster series (forthcoming):

Poster 1 Freedom: Ah Lian’s story Poster 2 Climate March Poster 3 Waiting: Ah Lian’s story Poster 4 Two Americas: Ah Lian’s story Poster 5 Essential Worker: Huang Jie’s story Poster 6 Resistance

Our Intergenerational Stories 歲月心聲: 家 was curated and led by M. Min-Chong Lin and Vida Kuang in 2019 as part of an Intergenerational Oral Storytelling and Photography Workshop Series in partnership with the Chinese for Affirmative Action and their parent leaders.

To learn about and to support the organizing of our communities, please visit:

SRO Families United Collaborative Chinese Progressive Association SF (CPA) Asians 4 Black Lives SF Anti-Displacement Coalition

To learn more about the history of Asian American organizing:

Chinatown Rising Asian Americans PBS documentary series

Acknowledgments:

Thank you for sharing your stories: Ah Lian, Ivy, Huang Jie

Thank you for sharing your photos: Ah Ai (Poster 3, inside SRO photo), Ah Yu (Poster 1, playground photo), Chinatown Community Development Center (Poster 1, shower photo), Brooke Anderson (Poster 6, images of activists), Vida Kuang (Poster 3, SRO hallway photos), Stanley Tudor (Poster 1, kitchen photo)

Thank you to my movement siblings: Laiwa Wu, Emily Lee, and Cynthia Fong

Thank you Tere Almaguer for your guidance in depicting Danza Azteca and for photograph modeling

Thank you for the translations: the San Francisco Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs.

Thank you for the support and for making this project possible: Craig Corpora and the San Francisco Arts Commission.

Thank you for modeling for us and providing childcare, and endless support: Ben Lee, Pam Tau Lee, Calvin Cheung-Miaw

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Chinatown: Love, Struggle, Resistance

In English and Spanish. View all six posters in Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog and English: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfac/albums/72177720300544664

On display on San Francisco’s Market Street MUNI bus kiosks August  - October 2022

© Kayan Cheung-Miaw & Vida Kuang

Artists’ Statement

In a few years, the San Francisco Chinatown we know may not exist anymore.

Even before the pandemic, Chinatown had many empty storefronts while hungry developers waited close by. Tenants were vulnerable to displacement due to lack of protection and economic instability. The pandemic also escalated the dehumanization of our AAPI communities through racist scrapgoating.

Our poster series highlights the stories of Chinatown’s mothers, workers and tenants. The comics foreground the themes of love, community, survival, and resistance.

Having our community members’ stories visible and centered through Market Street’s kiosks is a part of ensuring the Chinatown we call home will survive in post-pandemic San Francisco.

Chinatown: Love, Struggle, Resistance is part of the The Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series. This series is a project of the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

The Stories Behind the Comics

Most of the stories for this project are inspired by the oral history project “Our Intergenerational Stories 歲月心聲: 家 ” where mothers, women, tenants and workers are invited to tell their own stories. Listen and read the stories that inspired this poster series (forthcoming):

Poster 1 Freedom: Ah Lian’s story Poster 2 Climate March Poster 3 Waiting: Ah Lian’s story Poster 4 Two Americas: Ah Lian’s story Poster 5 Essential Worker: Huang Jie’s story Poster 6 Resistance

Our Intergenerational Stories 歲月心聲: 家 was curated and led by M. Min-Chong Lin and Vida Kuang in 2019 as part of an Intergenerational Oral Storytelling and Photography Workshop Series in partnership with the Chinese for Affirmative Action and their parent leaders.

To learn about and to support the organizing of our communities, please visit:

SRO Families United Collaborative Chinese Progressive Association SF (CPA) Asians 4 Black Lives SF Anti-Displacement Coalition

To learn more about the history of Asian American organizing:

Chinatown Rising Asian Americans PBS documentary series

Acknowledgments:

Thank you for sharing your stories: Ah Lian, Ivy, Huang Jie

Thank you for sharing your photos: Ah Ai (Poster 3, inside SRO photo), Ah Yu (Poster 1, playground photo), Chinatown Community Development Center (Poster 1, shower photo), Brooke Anderson (Poster 6, images of activists), Vida Kuang (Poster 3, SRO hallway photos), Stanley Tudor (Poster 1, kitchen photo)

Thank you to my movement siblings: Laiwa Wu, Emily Lee, and Cynthia Fong

Thank you Tere Almaguer for your guidance in depicting Danza Azteca and for photograph modeling

Thank you for the translations: the San Francisco Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs.

Thank you for the support and for making this project possible: Craig Corpora and the San Francisco Arts Commission.

Thank you for modeling for us and providing childcare, and endless support: Ben Lee, Pam Tau Lee, Calvin Cheung-Miaw

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Art on Market Street - Chinatown: Love, Struggle, Resistance

Chinatown: Love, Struggle, Resistance

August  - October 2022 

© Kayan Cheung-Miaw & Vida Kuang. 

View all six posters in Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog and English: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sfac/albums/72177720300544664

Artists’ Statement

In a few years, the San Francisco Chinatown we know may not exist anymore. 

Even before the pandemic, Chinatown had many empty storefronts while hungry developers waited close by. Tenants were vulnerable to displacement due to lack of protection and economic instability. The pandemic also escalated the dehumanization of our AAPI communities through racist scrapgoating. 

Our poster series highlights the stories of Chinatown’s mothers, workers and tenants. The comics foreground the themes of love, community, survival, and resistance. 

Having our community members’ stories visible and centered through Market Street’s kiosks is a part of ensuring the Chinatown we call home will survive in post-pandemic San Francisco. 

Chinatown: Love, Struggle, Resistance is part of the The Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series. This series is a project of the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

 The Stories Behind the Comics

Most of the stories for this project are inspired by the oral history project “Our Intergenerational Stories 歲月心聲: 家 ” where mothers, women, tenants and workers are invited to tell their own stories. Listen and read the stories that inspired this poster series (forthcoming):

Poster 1 Freedom: Ah Lian’s story  Poster 2 Climate March  Poster 3 Waiting: Ah Lian’s story  Poster 4 Two Americas: Ah Lian’s story  Poster 5 Essential Worker: Huang Jie’s story  Poster 6 Resistance 

Our Intergenerational Stories 歲月心聲: 家 was curated and led by M. Min-Chong Lin and Vida Kuang in 2019 as part of an Intergenerational Oral Storytelling and Photography Workshop Series in partnership with the Chinese for Affirmative Action and their parent leaders. 

 To learn about and to support the organizing of our communities, please visit:

SRO Families United Collaborative  Chinese Progressive Association SF (CPA)  Asians 4 Black Lives  SF Anti-Displacement Coalition

To learn more about the history of Asian American organizing:

Chinatown Rising  Asian Americans PBS documentary series 

Acknowledgments:

Thank you for sharing your stories: Ah Lian, Ivy, Huang Jie

Thank you for sharing your photos: Ah Ai (Poster 3, inside SRO photo), Ah Yu (Poster 1, playground photo), Chinatown Community Development Center (Poster 1, shower photo), Brooke Anderson (Poster 6, images of activists), Vida Kuang (Poster 3, SRO hallway photos), Stanley Tudor (Poster 1, kitchen photo) 

Thank you to my movement siblings: Laiwa Wu, Emily Lee, and Cynthia Fong 

Thank you Tere Almaguer for your guidance in depicting Danza Azteca and for photograph modeling 

Thank you for the translations: the San Francisco Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs.

Thank you for the support and for making this project possible: Craig Corpora and the San Francisco Arts Commission.

Thank you for modeling for us and providing childcare, and endless support: Ben Lee, Pam Tau Lee, Calvin Cheung-Miaw

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What do I remember about my mother?

An excerpt from my graphic memoir. 

Thanks to my mentors and peers at CCA’s MFA in Comics program for their support: Bo, Thi Bui, Justin Hall, and many others.

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Longer excerpt here: https://comics.cca.edu/thesis.html?student=cheungmiaw

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Guillermina Rising, 2018 Created in collaboration with Silicon Valley Rising Based on a true story.

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Rooted and Resilience/ Building Immigrant & Refugee Power, 2022

Illustrations for the Asian Pacific Environmental Network

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Heal the Collective Trauma Caused by Hurricane Maria, 2017

Illustration for the Center for Cultural Power (formerly CultureStrike)

“Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were devastated by Hurricane Maria. As the islands rebuild, there is an opportunity to reimagine a sustainable, self-determined, and people-powered future. Our friends at AgitArte, a Puerto Rico-based arts organization, developed a 10-step action plan to achieve this vision.

8. HEAL THE COLLECTIVE TRAUMA CAUSED BY HURRICANE MARIA. Our people have suffered physical trauma and psychological abuse - environmental, exacerbated by social insult and political ridicule - and we must create spaces of mourning and healing. Our healing is a priority so that our pain does not last for generations.

To see the full 10-step action plan, visit http://bit.ly/PRRebuild”

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Holiday/Festival Illustrations for the Chinese Progressive Association SF

1. Mid-Autumn Festival/ Moon Festival 中秋節, 2016

2. Dongzhi/Winter Solstice 冬至, 2016

3. Dongzhi/Winter Solstice 冬至, 2015

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Holding Space to Support Others, 2020

Illustrations for the Chinese Progressive Association SF

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Know Your Workers' Rights Comic in English and Chinese, 2022

A collaboration with the Chinese Progressive Association San Francisco

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Illustrations for the Bay Area Essential Workers Agenda, 2022 A collaboration with Bay Rising  (photo credit for last two photos: Chinese Progressive Association SF) The Bay Area Essential Workers Agenda is a four-point platform for a true economic recovery. 1. ENACT THRIVING WAGES AND BENEFITS, WITH PAID SICK LEAVE AND PAID TIME OFF. 2. VOICE AND RESPECT ON THE JOB, RIGHT TO ORGANIZE WITHOUT RETALIATION.

3. ENSURE EVERYONE HAS HEALTHCARE, UNEMPLOYMENT, AND FAMILY CARE. 4. ENSURE EVERYONE HAS PATHWAYS TO GOOD JOBS, WITH PAID TRAINING AND ADVANCEMENT.

To learn more:  www.EssentialWorkersAgenda.org

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An Ode to San Francisco, 2016

Cover art for the Interdisciplinary Writers' Lab 2016 Anthology, presented by Kearny Street Workshop and California Institute of Integral Studies. 

Much love to my talented fellow writers, instructors, and KSW! 

Get a copy of the anthology here.

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Don’t Let Racism Go Viral, 2020. 

Collaboration with Forward Together.

Although the use of face masks for a variety of reasons is common in many Asian countries, early U.S. coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic typically associated the image with contagion. My art reclaims the image in order to resist the dehumanization of Asians promoted by the current U.S. administration. My image reminds that in times of crisis, we can choose solidarity over scapegoating. In the current crisis, our survival depends on one another.

Also, tell Joe Biden to take down his racist campaign ad: https://medium.com/@aapiforce/open-letter-to-the-biden-campaign-on-unprepared-e372356f4eaa

Image description: Illustration showing a close-up of an East Asian person’s face, their eyes looking directly at the viewer above a face mask. Over the mask are the words: “Don’t let racism go viral. We will get through this together.”

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“DESIGN AND HEALING: CREATIVE RESPONSES TO EPIDEMICS” EXHIBITION TO OPEN IN DECEMBER AT COOPER HEWITT

For folks in NYC or will be in NYC during Dec. 2021-Feb. 2022:  I am excited to be part of this exhibition at Cooper Hewitt, the Smithsonian Design Museum.

Read more about it here.

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Notes on the Transformation of a Popular Chinese Restaurant, 2015

Poem by Li, Xiu Zhen, a worker leader in the Yank Sing restaurant organizing campaign.  Poem and comic originally written in Chinese.

Read about the historic campaign here and watch a video about it here.

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Janus the Planet, 2018.

A comic to warn the world about Janus v. AFSCME. A collaboration with Jobs with Justice SF. 

Read the full article here.

Comic also available in Chinese.