INTERVIEWS | Michigan Asian American Creatives

Explore their stories

From Guggenheim-winning poets to James Beard Award -nominated chefs to Grammy-awarded musicians, each artist has their own story to tell.

Each interview featured here is from:

An Asian American artist
Originally from or currently working in Michigan
In one of 4 creative disciplines: 1) Writing 2) Visual arts 3) Food & 4) Performing Arts

Writing

WRITING

Author & Director

Curtis Chin

Growing up in a Chinese restaurant, lack of coverage of Vincent Chin's death inspired him to be a writer.

Poet & Essayist

Kyunghee Kim

An elementary school teacher for decades, at 41, she switched careers to be a full-time writer.

Poet

Victoria Chang

A former investment banker and consultant turned Guggenheim-winning poet.

Poet

Carlina Duan

Acclaimed poet and educator, Carlina is the U-M poetry instructor that changed my life.

Visual arts

VISUAL ARTS

Photographer

Jarod Lew

Now an award-winning photographer, he got his start in photography due to a mysterious phone call with his ex-girlfriend's grandma.

Painter & Sculptor

Madhurima Ganguly

After a successful career as a sculptor in India, after moving to the U.S., she started from scratch as a painter.

Fashion Designer

RC Caylan

A former accountant, he now dresses Hollywood stars for the red carpet with his haute-couture designs.

Potter

Hedy Yang

A NYT-featured ceramic artist who's gone viral multiple times, she tried a few careers before realizing pottery was her calling.

FOOD

Food

Baker

Rachel Liu Martindale

She left the corporate engineering job she hated to pursue her dream: opening an Asian-American bakery.

Chef

Ji Hye Kim

She never thought she'd be a chef. Now, she's a 5X James Beard Award nominee and one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs 2021.

Chef

Duc Tang

Having lived in 6 countries, he studied pre-med at Yale and went to seminary before becoming a chef.

Performing Arts

PERFORMING ARTS

Musician & Filmmaker

Chien-An Yuan

His parents disapproved when he chose art as his career. Now, as an interdisciplinary artist (musician, record label owner, designer, and photographer), he's paving the way for future AA&PI creatives.

Dancer & Actress

Sabrina Imamura

A classically trained ballerina turned Broadway dancer, she's been on every national tour of Hamilton and currently understudies for the role of Peggy.

Opera Singer

Nicholas Phan

A Grammy-award winning tenor who started his career not seeing much representation, now he's pushing for more inclusive representation as a leader of his industry.

Director

Samina Saifee

As an Indian-American filmmaker, she changed her cautious parents' minds about going into film when she asked: "If we don't tell our stories, who will?"