The Bifecta Artist & Her Tiny Hands

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    As a sort of part two to my last article, I wanted to share another artist that I think has done incredible work for women and for many minorities. Mei Chen called herself the “bifecta” artist, because she is bilingual, bipolar, and bisexual. She uses her intersectionality in her art to create earrings made of tiny handcrafted hands. The hands are made with three different skin tones so that everyone could have something that looks like it was made for them, which is something many creators and companies gloss over or do inadequately. She also includes painted nails that are colors of certain pride flags and hands holding different items or positioned in different ways that add to the message of the piece.

    She explains that the reason for  choosing hands for her art was that “humans are built to be able to tell if something is actually human or not and [she] thinks the best kind of art is when you can truly trick the human eye. Hands are so expressive and so incredibly human, there are so many options!”





    One of my favorite pieces that she has made is called, “Remember to Take Your Meds!” It showcases two tiny hands of color holding two medications. The medications were replicas of medications the artist herself takes for her bipolar disorder. “When I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I had to come to terms with the fact that I would be taking medication for the rest of my life. My medication saved my life more than any amount of therapy and support ever could so I wanted to normalize taking them instead of demonizing myself for needing them,” Chen said.


    She also discussed mental health being taboo in many cultures, so I especially appreciate these particular earrings showcasing colored skin for this piece. I personally have a similar skin tone to the piece and I am also bipolar, so this piece to me meant representation for something I had not seen represented before. Similar to what she discussed about Asian cultures not always being understanding of mental illness, Arab culture has the same issue, so I have often had a difficult time reconciling my culture and my mental health. I think this piece particularly being a person of color with mental illness is a major and important statement that meant a great deal to me, and likely many others as well.


    I also really appreciate her making medications into something beautiful and I think it is an incredible step towards normalizing mental health care. The conversation about mental health has grown in recent years to allow people to discuss their experiences, their illnesses, and their treatments, but it is still not completely acceptable to talk about certain illnesses or how necessary medications may be. This piece is specifically about the artist’s bipolar disorder, a disorder that is often depicted as violent or insane, and I think it is important to have representation of that illness that is gentle and beautiful rather than the typical ways it is portrayed. In addition, medications are still things that are often not seen as necessary when it comes to mental health, so it is nice seeing representation of treatment in a way that is not judgmental and does not discredit the value and necessity of medication for mental health.


    All of her work, and particularly this piece, showcase so much honesty and raw emotion and so much potential for humanity to change and accept differences. The artist states, “I think that being honest with myself and being honest with the people who support me shows them that it’s okay to be themselves because my art reflects that.” She is truly very effective in doing that, so I wanted to share her work here. She is currently starting a shop and the proceeds go to different charities depending on the piece. Her website that is soon to include her shop can be found at https://www.meichenartist.com/about.


sources:

https://www.meichenartist.com/about

https://www.outfrontmagazine.com/mei-chen-the-art-of-tiny-hands-and-big-concepts/

https://www.instagram.com/meichenartist/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNU0MYnjHKM/



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