{"id":482822,"date":"2022-02-09T01:30:56","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T09:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/?p=482822"},"modified":"2026-02-12T17:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T01:19:10","slug":"crip-siblings-interview-with-chun-san-sandie-yi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/2022\/02\/09\/crip-siblings-interview-with-chun-san-sandie-yi\/","title":{"rendered":"Crip Siblings: Interview with Chun-san (Sandie) Yi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alice:<\/b>\u00a0 Sandie, I am just so delighted to talk with you today and what I loved <\/span>immediately is that you titled our Zoom meeting \u2019Crip Siblings\u2019!<\/span><\/p>\n

Sandie:\u00a0 <\/b>[laughs]<\/span><\/p>\n

Alice:<\/b>\u00a0 And I feel this kinship with you. What does it mean to you to find kinship with other crips <\/span>everywhere? Whether it\u2019s locally or all over the world? What does it mean to you to find a crip sibling?<\/span><\/p>\n

Sandie:<\/b>\u00a0 So I was born with my disability and it runs in my family. And so half of my relatives have my\u00a0<\/span>disability which is I have two fingers and two toes and some of my relatives have three toes and one of\u00a0<\/span>my cousins has like, a hand has eight fingers. So there\u2019s always a variety of limbs and digits. But in my\u00a0<\/span>family, this is not something that we talked about. It always feels like, \u201cOh, you know this is so normal\u00a0<\/span>within the family.\u201d But then there\u2019s a layer of like, \u201cThis is an unspoken taboo, because you don\u2019t want to g<\/span>o there, you only want to show that you can be successful.\u201d And I have a sister who has five fingers and\u00a0<\/span>five toes and she\u2019s a bit older than me, she\u2019s two and a half years older than me. And growing up in\u00a0<\/span>Taiwan, you know, the way that people relate to each other, a lot of time\u2014I mean, I would say that at\u00a0<\/span>times I feel like, \u201cOh, it\u2019s kind of intrusive.\u201d Because people will literally come up to me and say that,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cOh, well what\u2019s wrong with you?\u201d And then it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, does that hurt?\u201d So they ask questions like\u00a0<\/span>this. And I remember at a young age I was always so scared when people were going to just come up to\u00a0<\/span>me and say that, \u201cOh, you are so cute,\u201d or, \u201cYou\u2019re so pretty,\u201d because eight out of ten times\u2014or maybe\u00a0 <\/span>nine and a half out of ten times, the following sentence will be, \u201cIt\u2019s a shame that you only have two\u00a0<\/span>fingers.\u201d [chuckles] And so it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I am cute, but no, it\u2019s a shame.\u201d So I really was conditioned by\u00a0<\/span>this fear. Like, no, I don\u2019t want to hear people complimenting me about how I look because they\u2019re going\u00a0<\/span>to say something negative about my hands and feet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And so in comparison that, you know, my sister has five fingers and five toes, and lots of relatives would\u00a0<\/span>consider her as the lucky one of the family. And\u2014but then you know it got really complicated when I\u00a0 <\/span>was a few years younger and she\u2019s a bit older, and then when people complimented me, \u201cOh, you\u2019re so\u00a0<\/span>cute,\u201d and that did not make her feel good. So I always remember how she would be like rolling her eyes\u00a0<\/span>on the side, or like she would just be like, \u201cArgh!\u201d You\u2019re all paying attention to her. So as a result, I really\u00a0<\/span>hated people complimenting like, \u201cOh, you\u2019re so cute,\u201d and I always thought, \u201cWell, I have more to offer\u00a0<\/span>than how I look outside.\u201d So I grew up with this very complicated relationship, \u201cWhat does beauty mean\u00a0<\/span>and how do my hands and fingers\u2014my hands and feet fit into that, or not?\u201d So it\u2019s a complicated\u00a0<\/span>relationship. So for me I think a part of me really longed for kinship and I think it was challenging with my\u00a0 <\/span>sister because I mean, now I can look back and see that she was only a young child as well, and she was\u00a0<\/span>not getting the type of attention that she would have liked. So we are not in close relationships but, you\u00a0<\/span>know, like this is something that I have sort of accepted. Like, this is how we both experienced disability <\/span>even though we never named it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And in 2006 I attended the Bodies of Work<\/a>, a network of disability art and culture. There was a festival\u00a0<\/span>and that was the first time that I was introduced to a large group of disabled artists in Chicago. And back\u00a0<\/span>then I was living in the city for like, six years already, but I never knew anybody with disabilities. And in\u00a0<\/span>fact I\u2014I was kind of scared to be included in the festival and showing my art and attending events. There\u00a0<\/span>was a\u2014definitely a clear sense of like, \u201cOh, maybe I don\u2019t belong here,\u201d you know? In fact I did not know\u00a0<\/span>what that was about, and I did not know that basically internalized ableism was so pronounced that I just\u00a0<\/span>feel like, oh, you know what? I actually did not feel good enough to attend the gallery opening, for\u00a0<\/span>example, and it was like a physical expression. Like, \u201cHey, I\u2019m feeling really tired and maybe I should just\u00a0<\/span>go home and skip that opening,\u201d for example. And [chuckles] I actually did mess up the opening hours\u00a0<\/span>for the reception. After meeting folks at the festival, I realized that, \u201cWow, I didn\u2019t have to explain myself\u00a0<\/span>to these people. And how did they know? How did they just know what happened?\u201d And I was also\u00a0<\/span>reading Kenny<\/span> Fries\u2019, <\/span>Staring Back<\/span><\/i><\/a>, the anthology that he edited. And then I was just like, there were so\u00a0<\/span>many moments I just felt like, \u201cHow did this person know what happened to me? I never told anyone,\u00a0<\/span>and I thought I was the only one!\u201d So I think that was the turning point that I began, like, \u201cYou know\u00a0<\/span>what, there\u2019s something about this group of creatives. There is something.\u201d So basically, I came out as a\u00a0<\/span>disabled person during that festival and so I began having this hunger to know people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And that time around 2006, I had already decided to return to Taiwan, and I thought, \u201cYeah, I would like\u00a0<\/span>to know what the disability community is like back home.\u201d And so for a part of me felt like, \u201cWow, I\u00a0<\/span>didn\u2019t realize that coming to the States as an exchange student back in high school I actually found my\u00a0<\/span>complete self because I finally recognized that disability is part of my identity. And then, you know, like\u00a0<\/span>going back to Taiwan, disability isn\u2019t discussed in the same or in a similar way, like I was really hungry for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So again, that kinship, I think there\u2019s a longing for looking for my kind of people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alice:<\/b>\u00a0 I think it\u2019s interesting that you do have family members with similar disabilities. Did that kind of <\/span>give you a sense of at least, you know it\u2019s not just you. Was that foundational for you?<\/span><\/p>\n

Sandie:<\/b>\u00a0 I think that at one point it felt like, oh, the type of disability culture that I am going for was only\u00a0<\/span>in the States and I had known a couple artists from the UK. And so I felt like, \u201cOh, it\u2019s like very like UK and\u00a0<\/span>US based.\u201d And I think like at the beginning I did not think about these differences, but I think the way\u00a0<\/span>that folks were commenting on the way\u2014and on my viewpoint about disability made me realize that,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cOh, I thought that, you know, embracing disability,\u201d I mean, it feels good. It feels like, you know,\u00a0<\/span>liberation and it feels like, \u201cOh, wow, I can take away that shame.\u201d But I mean, this might help if I provide\u00a0<\/span>some examples. So when people see me talking about disability when I first went back to Taiwan, they\u2019re\u00a0<\/span>like, \u201cOh, you are very optimistic just like the Americans.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cUhuh, what does that mean?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think in Taiwan we have this impression like this, you know, the Hollywood side of things of about\u00a0<\/span>American cultures. Just like, \u201cOh yeah, happy and California sunshine and all that.\u201d So it\u2019s like a very\u00a0<\/span>stereotypical and very single-sided American story that we get to see as TV viewers in Taiwan. So I think\u00a0<\/span>like people are like, \u201cOh, you\u2019re very optimistic and you don\u2019t worry about people looking at you.\u201d And I\u00a0<\/span>was like, \u201cWell, it\u2019s not that I don\u2019t worry. It\u2019s like, I finally learned a set of language to talk back or to\u00a0<\/span>know it\u2019s okay to say no, and I don\u2019t want to answer intrusive questions.\u201d But, yeah. And then people\u00a0<\/span>were just like, \u201cOh yeah, you are able to be so positive about disability because you\u2019re prettier,\u201d for\u00a0<\/span>example. And then I just feel like, \u201cOh, that was totally not something that I\u2014that ever came across my <\/span>mind.\u201d And then people were like, \u201cOh, you know what? You could just go on TV and then show them <\/span>your hand and then you\u2019ll get a lot of popularity.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cOh, that sounds really scary.\u201d So\u00a0<\/span>apparently there were a lot of inspiration porn going on as there are here, that I think that was like the\u00a0<\/span>very specific image that people have about disabilities. Like, if you can overcome it you will be able to\u00a0<\/span>show people how brave, how pretty, how happy you are as a person. And so it was really frustrating, and\u00a0<\/span>I was like, \u201cNo, I\u2014it\u2019s not that kind.\u201d And I began reaching out to disability activism organizations, and\u00a0<\/span>then I learned, wow, what charity model really looks like especially in the Taiwanese and Chinese cultural\u00a0<\/span>context. So it was just lots of learning and it almost felt like\u2014a very unexpected culture shock. I did not\u00a0<\/span>think that I would have culture shock going back to my motherland, but it was completely a huge shock.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alice:<\/b>\u00a0 Since you are an artist and activist that lives in Chicago which has such a deep wealth of disabled <\/span>organizers, I am curious about your thoughts on the way disabled people in Taiwan organize and <\/span>connect? Were there things that you noticed that were very culturally specific?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sandie:<\/b>\u00a0 Yeah, looking back I saw a lot of like just Taiwanese crip wisdom.\u00a0 The way that people, you <\/span>know, fix up their motorbike, and it\u2019s like basically they can wheel themselves on to, you know, right next <\/span>to their motorbike, and then like it works. And then the way that people just, you know, create any <\/span>things out of just things that they can find, and it\u2019s like, \u201cWow, that\u2019s brilliant.\u201d And, and you don\u2019t see <\/span>that much like in the States. I was really pointing out to my friend, \u201cLike, this is brilliant,\u201d and they were <\/span>like, \u201cOh, well, because we cannot do what other normal people do and I was like, \u201cWell, it\u2019s not like <\/span>secondary. Like, it\u2019s not like a second class citizen.\u201d But it\u2019s like, \u201cWow! That\u2019s like\u2026 really cool.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alice:<\/b>\u00a0 It\u2019s always so exciting about the way people change the space and change their structures, right? I <\/span>think that\u2019s what it means to be disabled in a not disabled world. But it\u2019s not seen as wisdom. I think <\/span>that\u2019s the\u2014that\u2019s part of the work that\u2019s for\u2014and even here. Like, so much of what we do on our own to <\/span>make our lives a little better, right? Because we\u2014you know, we have to do these things. But it\u2019s still not <\/span>kind of seen it as art, you know?\u00a0<\/span>And this brings to mind your work with crip couture, because you do a lot of wearable art. It\u2019s really <\/span>interesting how you talked about your kind of growing up, and the way you felt about your body and <\/span>your fingers. But here you are now really transforming and looking at your own body critically and all <\/span>bodies, right? How did you get to this point where you\u2019re really kind of using bodies as this medium to <\/span>really interrogate what we consider beautiful?<\/span><\/p>\n

Sandie:<\/b>\u00a0 So I started taking metal working classes back in undergrad, and I was also taking fiber and\u00a0<\/span>material studies classes, where the work was on conventional materials to create jewelry, to create small\u00a0<\/span>sculptures. So I started working with my body by accident because I think I was not thinking about my\u00a0<\/span>body as\u2014you know, as any relationships to disability or, you know? It\u2019s just like, \u201cOh yeah, I\u2019m still very\u00a0<\/span>young.\u201d And\u2014but I think what happened was literally like the nature of art materials and the specific\u00a0<\/span>kind of materials I\u2019m referring to, you know, actually came from the social interactions I had with people.\u00a0<\/span>For example, touch by shaking hands, and where I had made gloves for myself. And so these are very\u00a0 <\/span>utilitarian objects, but by wearing them and interacting with people in the city such as, you know, be on\u00a0<\/span>the bus I wear mittens and then there was one moment I just realized, \u201cYou know what, this is the\u00a0<\/span>moment I don\u2019t have to even try and hide myself because nobody\u2019s asking. Yeah!\u201d That was like a sense\u00a0<\/span>of relief but then quickly I was like, \u201cWait a minute, but am I trying to hide my disability?\u201d And then like\u00a0<\/span>trying to\u2014oh, I do not have the concept of disability yet, but at least like, \u201cAm I trying to not show my\u00a0<\/span>hand, but I\u2019m not being my authentic self?\u201d So I had this conflicting dialogue within myself and then I\u00a0<\/span>began making gloves and make the connections with my memories about trying to fit in, or what does\u00a0<\/span>that mean to have numerous doctors suggesting that, \u201cHey, you should like cut part of your bone from\u00a0<\/span>your pelvic bone or like your toes so we could build you a thumb.\u201d And stuff like that. And so the\u00a0<\/span>materials I use literally come from my senses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the latest projects used some skin flakes. So I work with my close crip sister and mentor Rahnee<\/a> <\/span>Patrick. I served as her personal assistant (PA) from time to time and I helped her with bodily hygiene. <\/span>And her skin grows a hundred times faster than average people so the project became like a care <\/span>relationship, like attending to her body and then also, you know, just like having my crip hand attending <\/span>to her body. That\u2014all of these interactions and then the act of collecting her skin flakes after each lotion <\/span>session, I began working with, you know, skin flakes and fabric and they always felt like sort of relics. And <\/span>exploring the concept of, well, I want to have crip as a heritage, as something that we treasure, as <\/span>something that we preserve. So we preserve our own culture and there\u2014I want evidence, so leaving like <\/span>traces of us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alice:<\/b>\u00a0 You\u2019re like a crip archeologist.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sandie:<\/b>\u00a0 Oh, I love that term. Thank you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alice:<\/b>\u00a0 And I think so much of what artists do is about yourself, not just creating, making things, and not <\/span>just showing things or teaching people. It\u2019s an act of love, right? I think it\u2019s an act of community care. Can <\/span>you talk a little bit more, I think, about what you feel like as an artist the relationship <\/span>between, kind of you know, your work and the kind of the way you feel about the communities that <\/span>you\u2019re part of, you know, in terms of engagement? Not just through your work, but really through your <\/span>actions and your interactions and your relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sandie:\u00a0 <\/b>[chuckles] So recently I was nominated for an award and was under the category of visual art. <\/span>And then I think in the process of submitting my materials I was like, \u201cYou know what, I don\u2019t think I can <\/span>compete with others in this exclusive category because that\u2019s not really what my work is all about.\u201d So <\/span>it\u2019s interesting to have these questions or these realizations because I do see myself like, yes, a lot of <\/span>time my work is about community engagement. But it really depends on my capability at the time and <\/span>maybe if I have the energy level to work with people who come to, let\u2019s say, community workshops. But <\/span>maybe for a specific period of time I only have the energy to work like work with one individual. So it\u2019s <\/span>just like there are so many forms and it just really depends on what\u2019s happening. And sometimes I feel <\/span>like I am an educator more and sometimes I\u2019m like, yes, I need to put my activist role\u2014like, I need to full <\/span>front it. But sometimes it\u2019s the artist-scholar. So it\u2019s like a mixture of a lot of things and it\u2019s very much <\/span>like, yes, because of the nature and the need of our communities, like,\u00a0 we have to do multiple things at <\/span>one time. And so my connection with the disability community, I feel like that\u2019s just fine. Like right now I <\/span>feel like, \u201cNo, I know I cannot live without it.\u201d [chuckles] <\/span><\/p>\n

Like when I adopted my dog about four <\/span>months ago I\u2014the reason I decided to adopt him was because the previous owner told me that, \u201cOh <\/span>yeah, he has alopecia, so he doesn\u2019t have hair and then he has something going on with his spine.\u201d And I <\/span>am like, \u201cYes! This is the one!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alice:<\/b>\u00a0 This is the dog!<\/span><\/p>\n

Sandie:<\/b> Yeah. [laughs]<\/span><\/p>\n

Alice:<\/b>\u00a0 That dog is the one for you!<\/span><\/p>\n

Sandie: <\/b>Yeah. So and I feel like\u2014again, like looking for my own kind this kinship still plays a role in my <\/span>work and in my personal life. So it\u2019s like I have been creating just, like little prints here and there with the <\/span>shape of my hand and\u2026 I just feel like, \u201cWell, these are not art objects for sale or I\u2019m not running a <\/span>company or I\u2019m not doing it to get popularity.\u201d I mean, I\u2019m not a commercial-based artist or a designer, <\/span>so it\u2019s also hard to define or put me into one specific category. But I have to say, like my work is very <\/span>much about disability culture and more like culture making.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sandie:<\/b>\u00a0 I love your questions and our time talking together.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alice:<\/b>\u00a0 I feel like we could do this forever.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ABOUT\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"A
A Taiwanese woman with black shoulder length hair and a grey shirt, side-eyeing a teddy-bear looking Pomeranian who dresses in a grey turtleneck sweater.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chun-Shan (Sandie) Yi\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I make wearable art that addresses bodily and social experiences. Centered on histories and narratives\u00a0<\/span>generated within and performed by the body through everyday social interaction, my work aims to <\/span>facilitate dialogue between the wearers and the viewers of these objects.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Crip couture focuses on body reconfiguration through mapping the memories and the living experiences\u00a0<\/span>of the disabled bodies. medical and surgical intervention. Altering the purpose of conventional\u00a0<\/span>prosthetics and orthotics, which aim to create more-or-less standardized body form and function, I blend\u00a0<\/span>prosthetics and jewelry to make a range of garments, accessories and footwear. Each wearable item is\u00a0<\/span>designed based on an individual\u2019s medical experience, physical position and state of mind. Rather\u00a0<\/span>than rejecting the notion of physical alteration, I provide intimate and empathetic bodily adornment, not\u00a0<\/span>as a correctional physical aid, but as a tool for remapping and engaging with a new physical terrain, one\u00a0<\/span>embodied with personal standards of physical comfort and self-defined ideals of beauty.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a collection of wearable works, this project explores the impact of ethical and medical decisions made\u00a0<\/span>about the body; the boundary between ethics and aesthetics; the idea of the body in flux; and body <\/span>ownership (reclaiming the body). The objects and their wearers call for a recognition of collective Crip <\/span>experiences and suggest the possibility for a new genre of wearable art, Disability Fashion.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n

Website: <\/span>https:\/\/www.cripcouture.org\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Instagram: <\/span>@cripcouture<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Support Disability Media and Culture<\/b><\/p>\n

DONATE<\/b><\/a>\u00a0to the Disability Visibility Project\u00ae<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alice:\u00a0 Sandie, I am just so delighted to talk with you today and what I loved immediately is that you titled our Zoom meeting \u2019Crip Siblings\u2019! Sandie:\u00a0 [laughs] Alice:\u00a0 And … Continue Reading Crip Siblings: Interview with Chun-san (Sandie) Yi<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":482808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[548706274],"tags":[587152512,587152416,1885,587152346,5154,587153108,2185239,587153105,587153104,10372239,2005041,4572256,214695644,37313,406,227420,587153106,587153107],"class_list":["post-482822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvp-blog-posts-and-essays","tag-asian-american-disabled-people","tag-asian-american-women","tag-beauty","tag-care-work","tag-chicago","tag-crip-couture","tag-crip-culture","tag-crip-intimacy","tag-crip-kinship","tag-disability-community","tag-disability-culture","tag-disabled-artists","tag-disabled-bodies","tag-families","tag-family","tag-interdependence","tag-taiwan","tag-taiwanese-disabled-people","post-has-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/SANDIE-AND-WILSON-TWITTER.png?fit=1600%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4H7t1-21Bs","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}