Journal of Transnational American Studies

This essay examines the work of three artists, Yun-Fei Ji, Hung Liu, and Zhang Hongtu, all of whom emigrated from China to the US in the 1980s. Brodsky examines what effects the move to the US has had on their creative practices, as well as their connections to China—Ji has recently returned, Zhang has a studio there, and Liu’s painting content is rooted in Chinese subjects. Brodsky is primarily interested in the impacts of transnationalism, globalization, and the issues surrounding hybridity on the ways in which these artists construct their works. She is also attentive to the manner in which all three artists utilize artworks as forms of political critique that are related to local and global concerns. These practices have been partially enabled by their transnational lives in the US. Through examining the earlier artworks of these three artists, the changes observed in their more recent works will help to clarify the impact of immigration to the US on their lives and on their creative production.