Southeast Asian woman graces cover of Time Magazine

TIME magazine's March 29 cover is a beautiful piece of art by New York-based artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya.

The cover is a painted portrait of a Southeastern Asian woman surrounded by beautiful, colorful flowers, under the headline "We Are Not Silent: Confronting America's Legacy of Anti-Asian Violence." with a underplayed, super-imposed transparent "TIME."

The beautiful image “reflects the immeasurable strength of Asian American women who are the connective tissue of our communities, yet too often overlooked, fetishized, dehumanized and underestimated.” Phingbodhipakkiya tells TIME. “My hope is to see the beauty of our people reflected in the colors of our communities in a dignified and respectful way.”

Even the choice of flowers used to frame the portrait was intentional, says the artist. “The peony symbolizes solidarity and friendship, the chrysanthemum signifies resilience—it’s one of the few flowers that blooms when it’s cold—and the hawthorn berry represents longevity and protection.”

Inside the magazine are two articles: 

The cover story, "The Atlanta Shootings Fit Into a Long Legacy of Anti-Asian Violence in America," by a TIME team of reporters; and a personal essay, "We Are Always Waiting Our Turn to Be Important.’ A Love Letter to Asian Americans" by Japanese American Lucy Feldman, a senior editor for TIME.

TIME's photo editor Sangsuk Sylvia Kang, who pitched the artist for consideration. “It’s obviously a topic that means a lot to me personally and professionally,” said Kang.

The magazine cover is a reinterpretation of an earlier work of Phingbodhipakkiya commissioned by New York City's Human Rights Commission's campaign “I Still Believe in Our City.”

Phingbodhipakkiya adds, “I really wanted to find a way to say, despite everything we have faced as Asian Americans and New Yorkers, that I still believe in New York.”

NEW YORK CITY

Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya's art is being displayed at subway stations
 and bus stops in New York City. 

The anti-racism posters are spread throughout the city's transportation system, at bus stops, subway stations and inside the subway trains themselves.

If you have taken part in some of the rallies and demonstrations in the New York City region against the anti-Asian violence sweeping across the country, you might have seen a version of the TIME cover on protest signs carried by participants.

TWITTER

Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya artwork has a message of protest by exposing the hidden racism.

Karma has a way of popping up at the most unexpected times. 

Phingbodhipakkiya grew up in Georgia, where the shootings took place and where her family experienced anti-Asian experiences. Through her art, she wanted to share those experiences and the experiences of so many other Asian Americans which have gone unnoticed and unheralded by the mainstream.

“My art has always been about making the invisible visible,” the Thai-Indonesian American artist told the New York Times. “I’ve explored everything from microscopic universes to outer space and things that just can’t be seen with the naked eye. And I think struggles of communities of color are often invisible.”