10 Questions with Jiaqi Pan

Al-Tiba9 Art Magazine ISSUE11 | Featured Artist

Jiaqi Pan was born and raised in China. She received her BA in Photography from the University of Alabama (2016) and an MFA from The University of Pennsylvania (2018). Working primarily with photography, she is interested in exploring her relationship with strangers, time, and herself.

She has had solo exhibitions exhibited at The Gallery at Delaware County Community College (Media) and Sella-Granata Art Gallery (Tuscaloosa). Her works have been included in recent group exhibitions, including Parentheses at David Nolan Gallery, Double Vision at FJORD, Bild Build at Icebox Project Space, and TPS 26: The International Competition at J. Wayne Stark Galleries. She lives and works in New York. 

jiaqipan.com | @chi_qi7

Drive-thru | Project Description

As a foreigner looking in, the way I see America may differ from how Americans see their own country. By capturing the spaces and environments that we encounter in our daily lives but sometimes overlook, while reflecting on the significance of the culture born in this land and expanding outwards. 

This work focuses on the working class, specifically women in the service sector. These photographs celebrate female African-Americans as individuals, working in the low-wage, fast food industry. This body of work, entitled Drive-through (or Drive-thru), reveals spaces and environments we encounter but sometimes overlook in our everyday lives. The shape of the window frames the individual both compositionally and metaphorically. A single female worker sits isolated within the window and meets the gaze of the viewer face-on, darkness engulfs these buildings, and artificial light emanates outward, perhaps shining like a beacon.

Simultaneously repetitive and highly individualized, this series undermines the anonymity of fast food service and challenges viewers to look more closely at an iconic space within American food culture.

INTERVIEW

First of all, tell our readers a bit about you. Who are you, and how did you start experimenting with images?

Hi, AI-Tiba9 readers. I'm Jiaqi Pan, and I go by Chi. My family is from Hubei, but I was born in Shanxi and raised there. After completing middle school, we relocated to Beijing. After completing high school, I decided to study abroad on my parents' advice. I earned a Bachelor of Arts in photography in 2016 from the University of Alabama and a Master of Fine Arts in 2018 from the University of Pennsylvania. Now I work in New York and reside in Jersey City, where I can see the skyscrapers of Manhattan across the Hudson River. My exposure to various living environments has made me curious about my surroundings and sensitive to the cultural exotica of various regions. When I was 16, I purchased my first camera, a Canon DSLR. I recalled fiddling with the camera in accordance with the manual and began to learn how to take photographs. It was far from professional photography; I would prefer to refer to it as "taking pictures". It was merely a hobby that I used to document my everyday life. During my time in college, I happened to pass by the school's darkroom. I observed students entering and exiting the room, with some displaying photo papers to a professor for printing advice. I could not resist looking inside, where the walls were covered with photographs of students affixed to pushpins. The distinct odor of the chemical in the room reignited my passion for photography. At the end of my freshman year of college, I reconsidered my future profession. In my sophomore year, I changed my major from finance to photography, which I deeply enjoyed. It turned out to be a wise choice. I came to recognize the limitless power of art and photography through my professional studies. Today, I am a more accomplished artist and photographer.

You studied in the USA, which seems to have deeply influenced your work. Why did you choose to pursue your education in the USA? And what inspired you to move to that country specifically?

As mentioned in the previous question, I decided to study in the United States on the advice of my parents. They highly regarded America's leading educational resources and unrestricted educational environment. I was extremely thankful to them. Without their decision, I would not be who I am today. In the United States, I systematically studied both analog and digital photography techniques, laying the groundwork for my art creation. By taking art history courses, I gained a greater understanding of the origin and evolution of art. In addition to art creation, I gained a deeper understanding of critical thinking, which I consider to be my greatest accomplishment. During my time in the United States, I gradually developed my own artistic philosophy and photography style. Not only did my works represent myself, but also my reflections on the contemporary world. As a consequence of this, after I obtained my bachelor's degree and planned to pursue a graduate program in art, I resolvedly decided to do so in the United States, without giving any second thought to the excellent art programs offered in other countries.

You are still young but have already worked and exhibited extensively. How has your art evolved over the years? What is your aim as an artist today?

I've always appreciated portrait photography. This is comfortably reflected in both my early and current works. I have always been moved and frequently surprised by people's elusive expressions, unnatural body language, and attempts to appear confident in front of the camera when I have photographed them. These factors have significantly contributed to my deep love for portrait photography. In my earliest photographs, I took a series of portraits of the people closest to me. As portraiture requires the establishment of cooperative relationships with different people, I began to experiment with photographs of strangers and leave my comfort zone. Hence, the subsequent series on the American working class, in which I presented observations on the working environment and status of low incomes in the United States to spark conversations about American culture, race, gender, and other social issues.As I studied contemporary art, I became familiar with various artistic mediums, my favorite being performance art. I attempted to bring performance art into my artwork and spent a year creating a piece that incorporated photography and performance. The photography section included daily selfies. Regarding the performance aspect, I forced myself to co-create a portrait with a random stranger each day. This one-year-long work displayed self-identification and the stranger's response after observing me.
As a photographer, I have always been in charge of photographing and selecting formal portraits. Then, in 2018, I initiated a project to have strangers at a flea market photograph, critique, and complete this experimental work titled "PASSPORT PHOTOS."
In the year 2020, as Covid-19 ravaged the globe, I decided to return to China to be with my family. It was also the first time I had taken photographs in my own country. The pandemic afforded me additional time for self-reflection, and my years of expatriate living left me with an unprecedented sense of identity alienation. I attempt to find a path through the fog using art. As a result, I knocked on the doors of strangers and took family photographs as a temporary family member. I wear the clothes and jewelry given to me by female family members and have played various roles in various families. On this occasion, I represented the youngest daughter, and on another, I am the daughter-in-law. My identity constantly fluctuated from family to family. It was also the first time I attempted to form a highly intimate "cooperative relationship" with strangers. These works have been exhibited numerous times in various countries, art fairs, and galleries, and they have garnered praise from artists, curators, and art institutions.
As an artist, my goal has remained constant from the beginning. To investigate issues of race, identity, gender, class, etc., I have always maintained cooperative relationships with strangers. I hope that the messages conveyed in my works will evoke an emotional response and inspire people to act accordingly.

Your series Drive-Thru captures many themes, thanks to portraits you took of fast-food workers. It deals with racial and social issues, as well as cultural ones. How did you develop this concept? And what inspired you?

This project was inspired by my reactions to the cultural differences between the United States and China. I resided in a small town in the southern United States. At the time, I frequently went out to eat late at night with my friends. Due to the late hour, our options were limited to fast food restaurants such as McDonald's. The first time I noticed a drive-through was when it was too late for dine-in service, and the restaurant had already closed. I entered the drive-through area for the first time, glancing at the menu on the screen and awkwardly ordering food through a microphone. It was nearly impossible for me to see anyone during the ordering process until I drove to the next area to pay and collect my food from a window. I had never before utilized a drive-through service. While awestruck by its convenience, I began to notice the people working in this confined space. I began driving to various fast-food restaurants. After some time, I realized that in the South of the United States, particularly in the small town where I resided, nearly all drive-through window employees are female, and the majority are African-American. This realization prompted me to consider the gender and racial implications of the social phenomenon reflected in America's distinctive fast-food culture. Therefore, I set up my camera and photographed this group of female employees. During my visits to these drive-throughs, I discovered that what drew me in was not only the individuals working behind the windows but also the window frames themselves. The shape of these windows enabled me to effectively highlight my photographic subjects.

How did you choose which subjects to shoot? And what was the workers' response to your work?

My driving routes included nearly all fast-food restaurants in Tuscaloosa and Northport, and I even drove an hour to Birmingham, a larger city. Typically, I chose to take photos at night because there were fewer people present. In addition, the light-shrouded figures of these workers, visible from the windows at night, easily drew the attention of the public. Initially, I did not have any specific restaurants in mind to photograph. In order to avoid having too many repetitive elements in the photographs, I began to consciously avoid windows with similar shapes over time. Despite having the same brand, the windows of these restaurants are decorated in different styles. To obtain permission to photograph them, I even approached the takeout window and knocked to get their attention. Once, I frightened a restaurant employee so much that she believed I was a criminal. This also suggests the potential danger of this occupation.
I've heard numerous times in my solo exhibitions and artist talks that people are curious about the reaction of those female workers to my artwork. I appreciate that you brought it up. I made it a habit to present the photographs to the subjects. Many of them were fascinated by the image of themselves on the camera's screen, and some even used their cell phones to photograph the image. If there were other employees in the restaurant, they would comment and compliment the photographs in a variety of ways. I got a very interesting response once; after seeing the photo that I showed, she asked me if I was a journalist sent by the United States Department of Labor. At the time, a portion of McDonald's employees were on strike to protest the minimum wage.

Do you think being a foreigner helped you develop this series in the USA? Would it have been different if you were born and raised in the US? 

When an observant photographer travels to a new country, his/her eyes become sharper. Bringing a non-local perspective to this work is extremely beneficial. As an outgrowth of American fast-food culture, drive-through has been a staple of American life for decades. People typically pay little attention to repetitive scenes, individuals, and commonplace objects. They have grown accustomed to it and are inclined to disregard it. As an outsider, I find what they would otherwise disregard to be utterly fascinating, compelling me to observe, investigate, and ponder its significance. This topic is supported by social phenomena, history, and the humanities. It is not difficult to imagine that, if I had been born in the United States and immersed in American culture since childhood, fast food would already be ingrained in my blood and that, like the majority of Americans, I would overlook this cultural phenomenon and the underlying social issues. I would treat drive-throughs as carved stone lions at the gates of some Chinese houses; I would simply pass them every day instead of taking pictures with them as foreign tourists do and consider them a symbol of Chinese architectural culture.

You are currently based in New York. What do you think about the art community and market there? Do you find it a stimulating place to live in?

As is common knowledge, New York gradually replaced Paris as the art world's epicenter after World War II. Numerous artists have traveled there to pursue their dreams and strive to make them a reality. New York's art markets have always been robust. Despite the fact that the pandemic has partially impacted the New York art market over the past two years, the city has experienced a relatively swift recovery, with numerous art exhibitions opening recently. I went to the Whitney Biennial exhibition last month and planned to go to the Andreas Gursky photography exhibition at Gagosian this month. Such a robust artistic environment can serve as an ongoing source of inspiration for artistic creation. New York is also home to several world-class art museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Guggenheim Museum. As New York collectors frequently spare no expense when amassing collections of traditional and contemporary art, the relevant markets are quite active. In addition, New York is rife with non-profit art foundations that continuously fund artists, art events, and art projects, thereby fostering the growth and prosperity of local art. So, from my perspective, New York is unquestionably a stimulating place for artists, both professionally and personally.

The past couple of years has been a turning point for many reasons. What is one lesson you learned from this experience? And how did it help you further develop your art? 

The pandemic sheds new light on human vulnerability and the gap between ideal and actual life. The entire world has undergone a transition from open to closed and back to open, followed by a process of self-healing. It has disrupted our normal life in a way never seen before. People have been compelled to remain at home. In addition to their desire for freedom, they face the challenges of temporary confinement and information asymmetry. For me, the containment measures imposed during the pandemic slowed down what would have otherwise been a fast-paced lifestyle, allowing me to refocus on myself and consider, as an artist, how I should survive and redeem self-rescue in a time of turmoil; as well as how I should create new vitality and open up new space despite the spatial containment.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Anything exciting you can tell us about?

Due to the pandemic, I returned to China to work and live for over a year. Early in 2022, I once again set foot on American soil. This time affords me the opportunity to reflect further on this land. I am currently working on a photographic project focusing on new immigrants to the United States. Using my lens, I am attempting to illustrate how the "American Dream" is interpreted in the context of new immigrants and the cultural conflicts they face in a completely new environment. Also, I've been experimenting with photo printing on various materials to expand the scope of photographic presentation.
After arriving back in the United States, I organized a highly successful art exhibition and auction as the curator and judge. A few Italian galleries exhibited my photographic works, and an Italian curator invited me to exhibit my artworks in the coming months. I was also invited to serve as a juror for a photography festival. My schedule also includes other group exhibitions in the United States. All of these have fueled my enthusiasm.

Finally, what is one thing you would like the world to know about you?

I have a sweet and clingy Golden Retriever and a cat that can open all sorts of doors. 
I believe that the best way for the world to get to know me is to take a look at my work and view it from a different perspective. I would love for people to view my work on my personal website or communicate with me via email.