Posts by hapa
Morikami Museum Traces Trials and Taboos of Japanese Tattoos
Phillip Valys, South Florida Sun Sentinel February 24, 2016 Kip Fulbeck has been hassled in hotels, criticized in gyms and mocked in bathhouses for showing too much of his body, a tattooed canvas for fire-breathing dragons, Buddhist goddesses of mercy and other bold Japanese motifs. Fulbeck caught the bulk of this ridicule while living in…
Read MoreMultiracial Identity: Study Looks at Role of Money, Gender and Religion
Emanuella Grinberg, CNN January 28, 2016 For Kip Fulbeck, the son of an American father and Cantonese mother, identity is all about context. Growing up in Southern California, among his Taiwanese and Chinese relatives he was the white kid who didn’t speak their language, appreciate their food or understand their customs. At public school in…
Read MoreChoose Your Own Identity
Bonnie Tsui, The New York Times December 14, 2015 I never realized how little I understood race until I tried to explain it to my 5-year-old son. Our family story doesn’t seem too complicated: I’m Chinese-American and my husband is white, an American of English-Dutch-Irish descent; we have two children. My 5-year-old knows my parents…
Read More'Half Asian'? 'Half White'? No — 'Hapa'
Alex Laughlin, NPR Code Switch December 15, 2014 She was tall and freckled, with long, dark hair — and we stood out in the same way. As I leaned in to say hi, she yelled over the din, “You’re hapa, aren’t you?” It was the last word I expected to hear in D.C., but I welcomed…
Read MoreHapa-palooza 2014 Celebrates Three Giants of Mixed-Heritage
Jordan Yerman, Vancouver Observer September 28, 2014 “What am I? I’m what’s on your spoon when you pull it out of the melting pot!!” So writes a subject in California-based artist Kip Fulbeck’s photo series “part asian, 100% hapa” “The Hapa Project” just opened at the Nikkei National Museum, which also hosted Hapa-palooza’s inaugural Hip Hapa Hooray awards.…
Read MoreSkin As Canvas: Japanese American National Museum's 'Perseverance' Exhibit
Val Zavala, KCET SoCal Connected – watch video May 28, 2014 Photographs of intricate full-body Japanese tattoo designs are now on display at the Japanese American National Museum’s new exhibit, “Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World” The exhibit is curated by Takahiro Kitamura and photographed and designed by Kip Fulbeck, who has been…
Read MoreTattoo Art Embodies Proud Japanese Tradition
Madison Wade, NBC Los Angeles – Watch Video May 17, 2014 The work done at Onizuka Tattoo is painstaking As one may expect from any form of tattoo procedure, the feeling is painful but the people who endure this say it is worth it for every colorful, square inch “Taka has a real gentle touch,”…
Read MoreThe Inked and Bleeding Heart of 'Perseverance'
Evan Senn, KCET Artsbound May 6, 2014 In the world of outsider art, tattooing has the longest and largest history of any other. For centuries, people all over the world have been pricking their skin with pigments and inks for a multitude of culturally significant reasons. Some cultures originally used tattooing as a healing practice,…
Read MorePerseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World
Exhibition Catalog Japanese American National Museum 2014 Explore the artistry of traditional Japanese tattoos along with its rich history and influence on modern tattoo practices in this groundbreaking 200-page color catalog featuring photographs by Kip Fulbeck The catalogue includes a history of Japanese tattooing by Kenji Hori, as well as essays by Chaz Bojorquez, Chris Horishiki…
Read MoreJapanese tattoo art show explores the craft and its future
Michelle Mills, The Los Angeles Newspaper Group April 22, 2014 The Japanese as a culture has long been noted for its appreciation of beauty, but that does not necessarily extend to the art of tattoo. The show looks at Japanese tattooing and its ties to ukiuyo-e prints, as well as the practices and relationships of…
Read More