made in usa: Angel Island Shhh (1997-2000)

In 2000, Kearny Street Workshop presented made in usa: Angel Island Shhh in the Angel Island Immigration Station barracks, featuring a series of rice sack flags in a landmark exhibition “exploring the identity secrets of Chinese immigrants detained and interrogated in the United States.” KSW Executive Director Nancy Hom noted, “Nearly sixty years after their detention on Angel Island, some of the former detainees are ready to talk about their experience. Artist Flo Oy Wong’s sensitive interviews have encouraged some of them to reveal their immigration stories, some of which these former detainees have not told their children.”

Flo added, “Since 1986, I have used cloth rice sacks to narrate personal, familial, cultural and community stories. For made in usa: Angel Island Shhh, a three-year oral history-based project, I embellish the rice sacks with text, beads, sequins, and the American flag. With these materials, I narrate stories of Chinese immigrants who entered this country under false identities because of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Law.”

Images 2000 Flo Oy Wong

“Flo Oy Wong, made in usa: Angel Island Shhh,” photo by Lenore Chinn.

Flo Oy Wong on “made in usa: Angel Island Shhh”

In 1997, I was inspired by my husband, Edward K. Wong, a tour leader at the Angel Island Immigration Station, to start the installation “made in usa: Angel Island Shhh.” Since that initial spark of inspiration three years ago, many other people have also been helpful in the creation of this project which I could not have completed without their generous aid.

First and foremost I am grateful to Nancy Hom, executive director of Kearny Street Workshop (KSW), whom I contacted in the early part of 1998. My proposal clicked with her search for a future KSW project. Our collaboration resulted in the making and showing of “made in usa: Angel Island Shhh.”

I am also thankful to the leadership of other organizations who came forth to help as my artistic vision developed. I am indebted to Dan Quan and Felicia Lowe of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) and to Surrey Blackburn and Dave Raffo of the Angel Island Association (AIA) for their support. Felicia recommended contacting the California State Parks. Nancy Hom and I then initially met with Jim Burke, the past Angel Island superintendent. Together, we presented our proposal to exhibit “made in usa: Angel Island Shhh” on-site in the men’s barracks of the Detention Center. When Nick Franco assumed the superintendency in 1998 the excellent working relationship between KSW and the California State Parks continued. I would also like to thank the following individuals who wrote letters of support when KSW applied for project grants: Phil Choy, past president of the Chinese Historical Society of America; Dan Quan, Mark Johnson, Professor of Art and Gallery Director at San Francisco State University; and Jan Rindfleisch, Director of the Euphrat Museum of Art.

When I researched historical facts Judy Yung, associate professor of American Studies at UC Santa Cruz, and Him Mark Lai, Chinese American historian, provided invaluable help by verifying information.

I received strong assistance from my family and my husband’s family. My sisters, Li Keng, Lai Wah, Nellie, my brother, Bill, and my brother-in-law, Roger, reviewed our families’ immigration stories. Several nieces, Allison Chop, Alexandra Lieu, Karen Weller, and Erin Yee attended or contributed to the project fundraiser. Allison also helped KSW secure an Allstate grant. Alexandra’s husband, Raymond, persuaded his family to share his father’s “paper son” story. My children, Felicia Joy and Bradley Jon, and my son-in-law, Jonathan Halperin, inspired me to give back to the community. My husband, Ed, shared his family’s Angel Island stories and provided all-around computer assistance for the project. His family members, Ginger and Al Chew, Steve and Karen Wong, Dave and Gayle Kong, and Galen and Valerie Fong contributed generously to the project over a three-year period. The Fongs’ daughter, 16 year old Lindsay, has written a powerful short story about the Angel Island experience which KSW will publish in their newsletter and include on the exhibition web site. Two of the Kongs’ daughters, Jamie and Dana, worked on rice-sack flags in my studio.

Between 1997 and 2000 I attended several artists residencies to make work for “made in usa: Angel Island Shhh.” I thank Villa Montalvo, the Vermont Studio Center, the Djerassi Foundation and the University of Nebraska for providing time and space to make my rice-sack flags.

The following friends sustained me through this project with their spirit and work: Cynthia Tom, the late Bernice Bing, Lenore Chinn, Jeff Jones, Moira Roth, Rudy Lemcke, Kim Anno, Gloria Bares, Jan Rindfleisch, Sandy Matthews, Sue Knight, Jeanie Chooey Low, Paul Fong, Jim Dewrance, Bob Hsiang, Ed Osborn, Joyce Iwasaki, Winnie Chu and Brian Komei Dempster, Therese Chen-Huggins and Elisabeth Cornu.

I am also grateful for the generosity of those who donated rice sacks. My deepest appreciation to Anh Thu Nguyen, Lillian Tran, Jamie and Dana Kong, Robin Nixon and Lauren Andrews who spent long-hours creating the rice-sack flags in my studio.

A special and final thanks to the existing detainees and the descendants of deceased detainees whose personal histories are essential to my show. Thank you for allowing me to retell your Angel Island narratives. This exhibition, “made in usa: Angel Island Shhh” belongs to you.

— FLO OY WONG*

Exhibition Catalog:
Flo Oy Wong: made in usa: Angel Island Shhh (2006)
Flo Oy Wong (artist); Nancy Hom (intro); William Wong and Moira Roth [essays]
Published by Kearny Street Workshop, 2000

Additional Resource Material:

* Kearny Street Workshop, made in usa: Angel Island Shhh. Retrieved January 9, 2020.

Flo Oy Wong “made in usa”— a story in three parts by Moira Roth, Trefethen Professor of Art History, Mills College, Oakland.

Island Bound: Flo Oy Wong — Angel Island Insight, a community storytelling project focused on Angel Island by Del Sol Quartet and ArtsEd4All.

made in usa: Angel Island Shhh

made in usa: Paul Fong, Bong Slin (2010)

In 2010 Flo created “made in usa: Paul Fong, Bong Slin,” an addition to the “made in usa: Angel Island Shhh” rice sack flag series.

She spoke about a new installation “made in usa: Paul Fong, Bong Slin” created for APICC’s “The Future is NOW: Asian America on its Own Terms,” at the opening artist talk held on May 12, 2012 at SOMArts in San Francisco. 

Flo shared the story of Assemblyman Paul Fong, his family history and his sponsorship of legislation in California, namely ACR 42 (Relative to Chinese Americans in California) and AB 376 (shark fin ban).

Click to watch: Flo Oy Wong: “made in usa: Paul Fong, Bong Slin”

made in usa: Paul Fong, Bong Slin – APICC’s The Future is NOW: Asian America on its Own Terms at SOMArts (2012)