Jane M.

Summary

As an an artist and ocean engineer, Jane Chang Mi assesses the post-colonial ocean environment through an interdisciplinary research-based lens. She examines the narratives associated with the underwater landscape considering the past, present, and future. Mi most often focuses on the occupation and militarization of the Pacific Ocean by the United States as her livelihood as an ocean engineer would have reinforced the legacy of the American military complex. The ocean has always played a large role in her life; she has been an avid Scuba diver for over 25 years. First certified by the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) in 1995; recently attaining an American Academy Underwater Sciences (AAUS) scientific diver certification; she is now working on her Technical Diving International (TDI) Advanced Nitrox and Decompression certification. In 2001, for her capstone at Harvey Mudd College, she helped Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute develop the Eye-in-the-Sea one of the first long term underwater observation systems. She was also the inaugural artist in residence at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, researching the pre-contact history of Pearl Harbor. The project concluded as a part of the first Honolulu Biennial. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, most recently at Te Uru Waitakere and ST Paul St Gallery in Aotearoa (New Zealand). She has been a scientist on the Arctic Circle Program departing Spitsbergen, Norway, a recipient of the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts grant and a fellow at the East West Center at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Upcoming projects include being a resident at New Museum's Ideascity Singapore in conjunction with Nanyang Technological University's Center for Contemporary Art and a group exhibit lonesome presented by Lucas Artist Residency and Montvalo Arts Center. She is currently based out of both Honolulu and Los Angeles, where she teaches at Scripps College.