Edited by Laura Kina and Wei Ming Dariotis
Foreword by Kent A. Ono
Published by University of Washington Press, January 2013
War Baby / Love Child examines hybrid Asian American identity through a collection of essays, artworks, and interviews at the intersection of critical mixed race studies and contemporary art. The book pairs artwork and interviews with nineteen emerging, mid-career, and established mixed race/mixed heritage Asian American artists, including Li-lan and Kip Fulbeck, with scholarly essays exploring such topics as Vietnamese Amerasians, Korean transracial adoptions, and multiethnic Hawai‘i. As an increasingly ethnically ambiguous Asian American generation is coming of age in an era of “optional identity,” this collection brings together first-person perspectives and a wider scholarly context to shed light on changing Asian American cultures.
This multiauthor volume features a foreword by Kent A. Ono, a co-authored preface and introductory essay by the editors, 19 original artist interviews conducted by the editors, and original essays from Wei Ming Dariotis and the contributing authors: Camilla Fojas, Stuart Gaffney, Rudy Guevarra, Jr., Eleana J. Kim, Richard Lou, Margo Machida, Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, Lori Pierce, Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, Ken Tanabe, and Wendy Thompson-Taiwo. Major funding for the publication has been awarded through the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, DePaul University and San Francisco State University.
Laura Kina is a Vincent de Paul Professor at The Art School at DePaul University. Wei Ming Dariotis is the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) assistant vice president of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
“War Baby / Love Child is an interesting, original, and innovative project that expands the field of Asian American studies by using visual art as a point of entry and analysis for the discipline.”
– Mark Johnson, editor of Asian American Art: A History, 1850-1970
“One of the strengths of this original volume is its holistic combination of interviews with premier fine artists along with the textual, historical, and scholarly context provided by established and emerging scholars in Asian American Studies.”
– Nitasha Sharma, author of Hip Hop Desis: South Asian Americans, Blackness, and Global Race Consciousness
“The project makes visible underrepresented histories with Asian-American studies, mixed-race studies and contemporary art. The exhibition and accompanying book . . . map out and contextualize the lives and works of these artists.”
– Jessica Davis, City Living Seattle
“A fascinating book on mixed-race identity and visual art.”
– Shawn Wong, International Examiner
“Kina and Dariotis’s volume offers an evolving and rich archive of marginalized but must-be-seen art production which scholars in Asian American Studies, Ethnic Studies, and Art History can synthesize in multiple exciting ways.”
– Susette Min, Amerasia Journal
DePaul Art Museum Installation Photos
Photos by Reid Miller, courtesy of DPAM
FIRST FLOOR:
1. Mequitta Ahuja “Dream Region” (2009) in the background and Cristina Lei Rodriguez “Decadence (Red Coral)” (2008) in the foreground 
2. Title wall and Mequitta Ahuja “Dream Region” (2009) 
3. A selection from Kip Fulbeck “Hapa Project” (2006), Jenifer Wofford “MacArthur Nurses VI” (2013), Chris Naka “Tale of Selling the Tale” (2009), and Cristina Lei Rodriguez “Decadence (Red Coral)” (2008) in the foreground 
4. Adrienne Pao “Hawaiian Cover-Ups” series (2004) in the background and Cristina Lei Rodriguez “Decadence (Red Coral)” (2008) in the foreground 
5. Adrienne Pao “Hawaiian Cover-Ups” series (2004) 
6. Albert Chong “Portrait of the Artists as a Victim of Colonial Mentality, 1979/2010”
SECOND FLOOR:
1. Louie Gong “Thinking Big” (2013), Li-lan “Two Views Bridged” (2000) and “Bird of Passage” (2001), Debra Yepa-Pappan “Live Long and Prosper (Spock was a Half-Breed” (2008) and “Hello Kitty Tipi (Starry Sky)” (2007) 
2. Li-lan “Two Views Bridged” (2000) and “Bird of Passage” (2001) 
3. Louie Gong “Thinking Big” (2013) and Li-lan “Two Views Bridged” (2000) and “Bird of Passage” (2001) 
4. Louie Gong custom Coastal Salish painted shoes 
5. Jane Jin Kaisen selections from her installation Light and Shadow (2011), Amanda Ross-Ho ANY THING’S O.K., AS LONG AS IT’S EXTREME (reprise) (2013), Louie Gong custom Coastal Salish painted shoes 
6. Samia Mirza “I’ve Always Wanted Your Nose, Dad” (2008), Gina Osterloh “Collapse” from the “Somewhere Tropical” series (2006), Lori Kay “Heir to Rice” (1999), Serene Ford “I’m the Girl Who Survived the War: Photographs from Viet Nam” (1998-2003), Cristina Lei Rodriguez “Forever” (2008) 
7. Cristina Lei Rodriguez “Forever” (2008) 
8. Samia Mirza “I’ve Always Wanted Your Nose, Dad” (2008), Gina Osterloh “Collapse” from the “Somewhere Tropical” series (2006), Lori Kay “Heir to Rice” (1999) 
9. Richard Lou “Stories on my Back” (2008/2013), Mequitta Ahuja“Roots” (2009), Samia Mirza “I’ve Always Wanted Your Nose, Dad” (2008) 
10. Albert Chong “Imagining the Past” (2009), Richard Lou “Stories on my Back” (2008/2013)
Wing Luke Museum Installation Photos
1. George Tsutakawa Art Gallery at The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, Seattle, WA 
2. Works by Louie Gong (foreground), Cristina Lei Rodriguez and Debra Yeppa-Pappan (background) 
3. Works by Amanda Ross-Ho and Gina Osterloh (foreground), Louie Gong and Kip Fulbeck (background) 
4. Work by Amanda Ross-Ho and Gina Osterloh (foreground) 
5. Works by Stuart Gaffney and Kip Fulbeck (foreground), Adrienne Pao (background) 
6. Works by Cristina Lei Rodriguez and Debra Yeppa-Pappan 
7. Works by Laurel Nakadate and Jane Jin Kaisen 
Works by Chris Naka and Serene Ford 
Back gallery works of (left to right) Richard Lou, Lori Kay, Jenifer Wofford (back wall), Adrienne Pao, and Samia Mirza 
Back gallery works by Lori Kay and Jenifer Wofford 
Back gallery works by Adrienne Pao, Samia Mirza, and Li Lan 
Work by Albert Chong and Mequitta Ahuja (foreground), installation by Amanda Ross-Ho (background)