Placemat - Where Is Sam Wo? by Midori

Midori

Placemat - Where Is Sam Wo?, 2022

Gouache, gold pigment, gold leaf

(framed dimension)

$2,000

Available

Location: Midori's studio

Using gouache and gold leaf, I reimagine the classic paper placemats found in Chinese American restaurants catering to white customers. Instead of zodiac animals, I replaced them with anti-Asian and other discriminatory laws spanning from 1882 to 2017. The traditional zodiac personality traits? Gone—replaced by slurs and hate speech experienced daily by Asians. These words were gathered through public calls on social media, where responses poured in—a flood of lived experiences and frustration. At the center is the U.S. government’s official definition of "Asian."

When I immigrated from Japan to rural Washington in 1979, the only place to find anything remotely Asian was the Golden Wheel Chinese Buffet. It wasn’t Chinese food—not really. Thickly breaded sweet-and-sour meats, neon-red sauces, pupu platters. But it was the only place in town with soy sauce, so we made do. I remember the paper placemats, designed to "teach" white diners about "the Orient." If I wanted a taste of home, I had to accept this strange, exoticized version of my own culture.

Over the years, conversations with fellow Asians often drift to the latest microaggressions, the casual racism thrown at us. We roll our eyes, laugh it off, and try not to internalize the stereotypes. We tell ourselves: Just work harder. Be excellent. Be more "American." Our families caution us, Don’t rock the boat.

Power—its presence, its absence, its negotiation—is everywhere. As an Asian American Queer Femme immigrant, I navigate these shifting dynamics daily. Because the reality is, violence and discrimination against Asian Americans—and anyone deemed an inconvenient Other—have always existed. Yes, it's worse now, but we don’t have to be the silent, obedient model citizens. While I understand the well-intentioned slogan Stop Anti-Asian Hate, it still feels rooted in respectability politics.

It’s time for something bigger. It’s time to embrace our fierceness, our power.

P.S. If you're an old-school San Franciscan, you’ll recognize the title. Consider this a love note and a wink to all of us locals.

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Additional Details

Additional Artworks

Dining Room (expanded iteration 2026), 2025

In the River, 2025

Echidna - Mothers of Monsters, 2023

Aglaecwif - Mothers of Monsters, 2023

Tiamat - Mothers of Monsters, 2023

Placemat - Where is Sam Wo?, 2022

In the pines, 2020

InVocation (2026 for Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany)