My interest on especially the early decades of nineteenth-century China has broadened to include consideration of the hitherto established historiographic narratives, in addition to the practice of individual artists therein. An emergent collective attention across disciplinary areas, that is paid to the historical time, pointing to an overall attempt in reimagining and recasting, calibrating and finessing early nineteenth century China has informed the recent interest. The overall intention is to open up to some sort of parity within the early nineteenth century between semi-colonial China and emergent modernity in Paris and the West. The same interest in cultural globalization is shared between my research and teaching interests.

Honors and Awards

University Professor Award (2024 - 25)Invited visiting faculty in Art History, International Summer Session, East China Normal University, Shanghai (2012 – 2015, 2017 – 2018)

Recent publications

‘A Survey in Global Visual Culture: Work in Progress,’ in “Responses to the Essay ‘Integrated Foundation Studio and Art History at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago,” by James Elkins, Journal of Visual Art Practice (forthcoming).

“Fei Danxu (1802 – 1850), Celebrated Artist of Figures from Life and Legend,” in Creators of Modern China: 100 Lives from Empire to Republic 1796 – 1912 , Jessica Harrison-Hall and Julia Lovell eds. (London: The British Museum and Thames and Hudson, 2023), pp.121 – 124.

“Disability, The Body, and Geopolitics: Lam Qua’s Nineteenth-Century Portraits,” in The Routledge Companion to Art and Disability , Keri Watson and Timoth W. Hiles eds. (2022), pp.115 – 133.

Educational Background:

Ph.D., Art History, Stanford University
M.A., Art History, University of California, Berkeley
B.A. (First Class Honours), Classical Chinese Studies, Durham University, UK