Dreaming on the Hudson

Dreaming on the Hudson is an ongoing project examining the Hudson River Valley and the Asian American men that inhabit this pastoral, sublime landscape. Inspired by the Hudson River School’s romanticized paintings of the river valley, I attempt to reclaim this colonial landmark as a site for the expression of individual and collective nonconformity. I visualize an escape from culturally idealized, hegemonic masculine identities of the West, othering and emasculating Asian men as perpetually foreign and un-American. Through intimate scenes of togetherness, rebellion, and freedom, these men imagine a way out, holding up a mirror that reflects the very reality we live in.