"SUSHI-RRITO" by Hilton Kam, Julian Mel Leus, Julian Demegillo, and Seira Narita. ASA 115 Week 1 Art Project.

Food is a universal language. Fusions of traditional ethnic foods have become increasingly popular in diverse communities in the U.S. Inspired by our own interpretations of experiences from loved ones who identify as mixed race, we explore the dilemmas and everyday identity crises faced by this community using fusion ethnic foods.

The dialogue in this piece critiques contemporary racial categorizations through the lens of fusion food. The sushi burrito is an example of a culinary creation that combines traditional Japanese and Hispanic foods to make something considered “fusion food,” which brings up the question of whether it can be considered “authentic Japanese,” “authentic Mexican,” or its own category. While some perceive fusion food as offensive to traditional ethnic heritage and others celebrate its creativity, we wanted to present the idea of fusion food as its own genre in the culinary world.

Being an artist gives a platform to illustrate our experiences as Asian-Americans. Just like how food is a universal language, simple comic art in daily newspapers provide accessible mediums to engage in everyday conversations about issues related to race and identity in provocative and humorous ways.

The comic is digitally created using Adobe Creative Cloud by modifying and collaging several images.