This LA artist takes on unlikely roles : NPR

On stage at the Kirk Douglas Theater in Los Angeles, Kristina Vuong presents himself as an unemployed performer facing the onslaught of COVID-19 with no penchant for action and some basic sewing skills.

“I have a Hello Kitty sewing machine. I have half a pre-cut bed sheet. I have four elastic bands,” said the Pulitzer Prize-nominated satire creator. Kristina Wang, Lord of Exploitationbroadcast through March 12.

But there’s another side to Wong’s seemingly modest theatrical persona: She’s also the swagger, self-appointed boss of the “Aunt Sewing Team” – a distinctive network of maskmakers. volunteering that the then unemployed artist was honored in real life through Facebook during the pandemic.

“This is my ancestor destiny!” Wong yelled, her shrill, amplified voice reverberating madly through the air as she paraded around the set dotted with oversized spools of thread, needle pads and needles, all made of multicolored felt sharp. “I am the Lord of the Sweat Factory!”

A born leader

Offstage, the 44-year-old artist, who lives in Los Angeles, has spent most of her recent career taking on leadership roles at the grassroots level. She then turns these real-life experiences into fun performances that touch on serious social justice topics.

Have Kristina Wong for Public Office, the performer’s satire of her adventures in local politics. Personal performance based on her continuous running and serving experience local neighborhood council in Koreatown.

There is also a theatrical production currently being worked on about her role as an influencer for World Harvest Food Bank in LA

And while she has no intention of turning it into a theater at the moment, Wong has even been intrigued recently by serving as treasurer for her building’s HOA. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” Wong told NPR in an interview.

However, the responsibility is in Wong’s DNA. Gwen Wong, the artist’s mother, said in an interview with NPR: “She’s always been the leader in her school. “She could easily be the CEO or chief executive officer of some organization.”

Sewing masks to save people

Self-deprecating and full of energy, Kristina Wong loves to take on responsibilities because she wants to get things done. This was the driving force behind her decision, in March 2020, to launch a casual face mask sewing Facebook page that would quickly encroach on the complex, vast activity that is the Aunt Sewing Team.

Kristina Wong demonstrates how to make masks at a Hello Kitty sewing machine in her Koreatown, Los Angeles apartment.

Chloe Veltman/NPR

hide captions

switch captions

Chloe Veltman/NPR

Kristina Wong demonstrates how to make masks at a Hello Kitty sewing machine in her Koreatown, Los Angeles apartment.

Chloe Veltman/NPR

“I really thought we were all going to die,” Wong said of how she felt at the start of the pandemic. “So I can try to earn income now. But it seems more important to keep people alive.”

Wong’s Chinese immigrant grandparents ran a laundry business in San Francisco from the 1960s to around 1980, when they retired. Wong said her mother and aunt sewed, so she always had sewing jobs around her when she was growing up – though mostly of the sewing, repairing type.

“I’m sloppy,” Wong says of her ability as a seamstress (She owns a Hello Kitty sewing machine in real life.) “I use the sewing machine as a stapler. I pull everything out. .”

She said when demand for masks exploded during the pandemic, it made more sense for her to focus on the “lord” of the Aunt Sewing Team — doing things like coordinating fabric donations and speaking to the press. even — instead of sewing masks yourself.

“She’s very good at making things happen,” says the author Rebecca Solnit, who, as one of Wong’s underlings, is known as the “Bankrupt Aunt” of the Aunt Sewing Team. (“The downfall, because I’m going to Facebook and make money and stuff.”)

Solnit says one of Wong’s greatest leadership skills is creating a support network for aunts that makes them feel valued. They did nice things for each other, like delivering homemade cookies and teaching online yoga classes. One of the aunts, Valerie Soe, made a short documentary about the members’ self-care system, featuring music by The Kronos . Quartet.

“There are other needlework projects,” Solnit said of the rise of these grassroots mask-making efforts on Facebook during the pandemic. “But this one built a culture and a community for people who do needlework.”

When life turns into political satire

Sometimes, Wong takes on the leadership role that makes for a great satire play that doesn’t quite play out as she expected in real life.

Such is her case as a locally elected official, used as source material for the 2020 program. Kristina Wong for the Public Office.

Wong said she has been thinking of doing a political show since the 2016 presidential election, as a commentary on the theatrical spectacle of contemporary politicians.

“I thought, if politicians become spectacle makers, then maybe I just need to go back to my old job and run for office and just see what that is and if that creates any change or change,” Wong said.

Decided to run and be elected to LA’s Five Wilshire Center Subdivision Koreatown Neighborhood Council 2019 comes with a series of strange events.

It started when she was the target of a troll campaign orchestrated by InfoWars. Wong said the conspiracy website made an exception to what she taught her kids on a social justice-themed web series for her kids. Advanced Exam Preparation School.

“I’m not trying to be a right-wing mocking meme,” Wong said of the countless abuses she received on social media from extremists. (The performer shared screenshots of some of these messages with NPR.)

One night, Wong goes to her friend Angie Brown’s hideout to relieve stress.

The activist and TV producer, also living in Koreatown, offered the performer some marijuana.

“And in about an hour, she was very tall,” Brown said. “We talked a lot, and I convinced her to run for neighborhood council with me.”

Wong said she had equal High expect her role at the bottom of the local political ladder.

“I thought, we’re going to legalize prostitution! We’re going to make affordable homes for everyone! We’re going to protect all tenants!” Wang said.

But the work that Wong continues to do has been largely unsuccessful. Aside from successfully persuading the panel to vote to repeal US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – a symbolic gesture – Wong said she doesn’t feel like she can get much done in her career. its role.

Kristina Wong (centre) on the roof of an apartment building in Koreatown, flanked by neighborhood council members Joeng Lynn Stransky (left) and Angie Brown (right.)

Chloe Veltman/NPR

hide captions

switch captions

Chloe Veltman/NPR

Kristina Wong (centre) on the roof of an apartment building in Koreatown, flanked by neighborhood council members Joeng Lynn Stransky (left) and Angie Brown (right.)

Chloe Veltman/NPR

“It’s very difficult to do big things from an unpaid office,” Wong said.

A brilliant artistic career ahead

Even if Wong doesn’t have a flamboyant political career ahead of her, she’s certainly achieving success as an artist.

Lord of Exploitation was one of two finalists for Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2022. And last month, Wong received the award Doris Duke Award. The Unlimited Prize is one of the country’s largest art awards, valued at $550,000.

“A lot of my identities have been spoofed in some sketchy way,” Wong said as he sat in his living room on the couch the artist rescued from the street. “So what do I do now that I have a safety net?”

Wong’s term on the neighborhood council is coming to an end in the spring. She said she has no plans to run for re-election any time soon for this office or any other political office.

“Oh, my God. Let me act,” she said. “I prefer mayhem.”

Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord runs at the Kirk Douglas Theater through March 12.

Audio and digital story edited by Ciera Crawford. Sound produced by Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento.