ariana swei is an artist whose work queers space by blurring boundaries and disrupting power structures. their work interrogates how systems such as racism, imperialism, and the patriarchy converge to impede and complicate what could be beautiful intimate connections. drawn to highly tactile materials and playful processes, ariana often works experimentally with fabric, food scraps, found objects, and handmade paper. ariana’s practice is motivated by their grief and rage for lost connections, as well as their desire for a softer, more interconnected world.
in addition to their visual arts practice, ariana is an educator, production worker for live performance, and organizer based in new york.
contactahswei@gmail.com
ariana has learned, worked, taught, and shown artwork at institutions which they refuse to name here. cv/resume available upon request.
Type: BianZhiDai by Xiaoyuan Gao, notyourtypefoundry.
Distributed by velvetyne.fr.
i am proud to be an asian american full of rage. i am a retired horse girl. (i was actually raised by a pack of horses.) the cat pictured above is named bao and i love her very much. i think i experience emotions in a very intense way but i am somehow always wanting more of that. i tend to type in lowercase not for the aesthetic, but because it’s faster. (ok but maybe it’s also for the aesthetic.) when i was a child, i was very shy– they called me “meep” because i would only make noises and not speak real words– but now i’m a real yapper. can you tell that i’m an oversharer? i think i overshare so that i can feel closer with people sooner. i want to be understood and i want to understand you. but some people kinda suck. how often do you get angry?