Picture Us in the Light

“I guess I think art should probe the things you’re afraid of and the things you can’t let go of, but maybe that’s just because deep down I want to believe you can conquer them, which might not actually be true.”

Protagonist Danny Cheng’s identity as an artist is formative to his navigation of the world around him. In this quote, he characterizes art as a coping mechanism for dealing with internal conflicts, sometimes even those buried in his psyche. This quote emphasizes why his artistic slump is bothering him: Without his art, Danny can’t acknowledge and deal with his anxieties.

“Anyway. Lately I’m a reverse Midas, everything I touch turning to crap, and so good old Mr. X has been louder lately: You’re a fraud, you peaked, it’s all downhill from here. The world doesn’t need your art. Get a real job.”

In this quote, Kelly Loy Gilbert alludes to the Greek mythological figure Midas, who is granted his wish to turn everything he touches to gold. However, Midas’s new gift is a curse. In referring to himself as a “reverse Midas”, Danny reveals a desperation to reclaim his former creative output. This quote reveals that he has low self-esteem regarding his art and is anxious about proving himself in art school. This quote also references Mr. X, the ominous reimagining of a racist man Danny encountered in his childhood. The voice of Mr. X appears when Danny is feeling at his lowest, thereby symbolizing his dark internal voice.

“I shouldn’t have assumed it was a guy. And I definitely did not expect her to be Asian. I know most of the prominent Asian artists these days because I collect the knowledge of them, imagine myself among them, and I’ve never heard of her.”

This quote reveals that American communities of color can internalize their lack of representation so much that they mimic the racist assumptions of predominately white America.