Activism

2018 Artist Trust Fellowship

Activism, Exhibition, family, Film, Installation, Narrative, Story

So excited to share this news with you!!!!

It was just announced that I am one of 16 recipients of the 2018 Artist Trust Fellowship ~ “an unrestricted grant program that awards $7,500 to practicing professional artists of exceptional talent and ability.” (You can read the full press release here.)  I am in awe of all that Artist Trust does to support the arts and artists across Washington state!  And I am grateful to the Jurors for their time and thoughtful deliberation — and for their kind consideration of my application.  Having served on numerous film festival and grant juries, I’m aware what a time and energy commitment it is to review and deliberate over hundreds of submissions…

This news has me Standing Taller and Breathing Deeper.  With this generous Fellowship, I will finally have the time and resources to complete the ambitious project I started during my COCA residency last year.  The Truth Has No Borders is a multi-media installation that integrates 40 years exploring my family narrative through writing, music, film and art.

And finally, a Huge congrats to my fellow Fellows! I am deeply honored to be in the company of so much Excellence.

Screenshot_2018-06-19-19-29-03-1-1

Pictured Left to Right/Top to Bottom:  Tariqa Waters, Barbara Sternberger, Taiji Miyasaka, Christopher Paul Jordan, Ryan Feddersen, Haruko Nishimura, Jade Solomon Curtis, Salome MC, Grace Love, Christopher Icasiano, Eliaichi Kimaro*, Tessa Hulls, Diana Xin, Mattilda B. Sycamore, Laura Da’, and Cathy Linh Che. *A warm thank you to Zorn B Taylor for my beautiful headshot.

 

EMERGE: The Journey is Everything

Activism, Exhibition, Narrative, Speaking, Story
Emerge

Emerge: The Journey is Everything

For me, the journey is everything.  I am far more interested in the process of becoming than I am in the final state of being.  The journey is dynamic, energetic – constantly evolving, transforming and expanding.  While creating, I exist in a suspended state of not-knowing.  I open myself up to what my painting is showing me, and then intuitively respond to it. This dialogue of discovery is what I crave.

As a self-taught artist and creative storyteller, I am constantly reinventing myself, learning whatever medium it takes to tell the story that is emerging.  Over the past 40 years, I have used writing, music, photography, film, storytelling, and now encaustics to explore my personal/family narrative.

The paintings in this show hang together loosely.  They demonstrate new directions I am exploring in my work (using mark-making, texture, and organic materials to tell a story.)  Some of these pieces came into being fully-formed.  Some were labors of love, with 2-3 completely different paintings living beneath the surface.  And still others have yet to find their final form.

While I am in love with the current incarnation of these paintings, I know some will be radically transformed when they return to my studio – melted, scraped down, carved into, painted over.  But as a lover of process, I believe that even our evolving selves deserve an occasional spotlight…to be seen, witnessed and lovingly considered in our current form.

The EMERGE show at the Columbia City Gallery (Seattle) is currently exhibiting through Sunday, May 13. 

The most consistent comment I’m hearing about this body of work is that these are pieces that need to be seen live and up close.  So if you’re in the Columbia City neighborhood, please stop by!  (Gallery hours: Wed-Sun, 11-7).

Residency Day 21

Activism, family, Installation, Narrative, Residency, Story, Works In Progress

With my title banner done, and the first “layer” of paper panels with family image transfers complete, I went to the shipping container today to do a quick install.  I took this short 30 second video with my phone to capture the look and feel of the piece.

I also wanted to test the sound. I will not be playing the audio from my movie.  Instead, I will be playing field recordings I gathered while filming on Mt. Kilimanjaro.  I have 2+ hours of Chagga women elders singing the work songs they would traditionally sing to keep their energy and spirits up.  I have slowed the track down, and added a slight reverb that plays beautifully in the shipping container.

It’s so exciting to see this piece coming together!! I can’t wait to see how this space feels when I add more layers of paper to give a feeling of depth extending all the way to the back of this cavernous shipping container.  The layers of paper panels are not meant to be an actual screen for viewing the film — but rather, a surface to be illuminated with color and light.  The moving images of my family on Mt Kilimanjaro will illuminate the Korean side of my family, extending back generations, embedded in the paper.  I have lots of paper panels awaiting image transfers…but at least the way forward is clear. It’s just work. I know I can do that.

Residency Day 19

Activism, Exhibition, family, Film, Installation, Narrative, Residency, Story, Works In Progress

Going thru so many family photos today, feeling profoundly still and in the flow, cracked wide open, and aware of how intertwined love and grief are for me in this moment. Really feeling the beauty and depth and value that age brings as I reflect on the complexities of our real lived lives. looking deeply into the faces of those who came before, I can see the indelible imprint of their love in Lucia’s being. Been crying on and off all day, feeling so very grateful for these creative openings….

Residency Day 4

Activism, Exhibition, Film, Installation, Narrative, Residency, Works In Progress

For 40 years, journal writing has been my key to unlocking my story.  I write to explore the stories I’ve inherited about who I am and where I come from, and to examine the stories I am passing down to my kid.

This journal writing has also served as my gateway to art.  When stories surface in my pages, I figure out the best medium to express these emerging stories, I immerse myself in learning a new creative language — film to explore Dad’s side of the family, encaustic mixed media for Mom’s side.

So today, I pulled out 40 years of journals, and then took a stencil and paper cutter to the pages to carve out the letters for my title banner…

Residency Day 3

Activism, Exhibition, Installation, Residency, Works In Progress

Technically, this is Day 3 of my Residency.

Day 1 was the key hand off/orientation day.

Day 2 was a crazy shopping spree–Harbor Freight, Lowes, Michaels, BedBathBeyond, DanielSmith, DickBlicks.

 

Today is moving day.  Relocating to a shipping container downtown is hard when you have a cozy home studio.  It’s not plush, or decked out for comfort.  It is an actual shipping container, complete with dust and cobwebs.  I have the combo for the Honey Bucket on the fenced in premises, should the need arise.  Otherwise, everything you see here in the photo–this is it.  But I am excited to have the time and the space to really push myself creatively. The final installation will visually combine my film, music, art and activism — for the first time ever.

By the end of the day, I waxed and fused my first round of decorative papers.  I wanted to see how the encaustic medium would affect the translucency of the paper, and how delicate/sturdy the papers would be, since they would be hanging on their own (not backed by wooden panel.)

 

Artist In Residence

Activism, Exhibition, Installation, Residency, Story

I have some exciting news to share!!  The Center on Contemporary Art Gallery and Shunpike have invited me to participate in their new Storefronts (UN)Contained Residency, designed to  support socially engaged artists from a variety of disciplines for whom art and activism are inextricably linked.  I am so honored to be in the company of such accomplished artists!!   

Anastacia-Renee Tolbert is Seattle’s Civic Poet.  Her literary and immersive installation “Do you see what you steal?” is a visual and literary response to gentrification, appropriation, and the multilayered and systemic death of the black woman.

Juliana Kang‘s work explores power dynamics in society. Their work “Han San,” which is Korean for “One Mountain”, is a site-specific installation composed of small, colorful fabric pieces and scaffolding in the formation of a large mound.

As this is my first ever site-specific installation, ideas are percolating about how I might best make use of this shipping container.  My piece — The Truth Has No Borders –will explore themes of identity, belonging, cultural inheritance and legacy.
.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .
Artists Reception (one day only!)
Date: Saturday, Oct 21st 2017
Time: 11:30am-3:30pm
Free Admission
Location: Three shipping containers across from Seattle Center
3rd Ave N between Mercer and Roy St.

TEDxSeattle – Why the World Needs Your Story

Activism, Film, Narrative, Speaking, Story

I’m excited to share that the video of my TEDxSeattle talk is FINALLY live!!!

When I started working on this talk in July, I couldn’t have imagined how vulnerable I would feel, delivering what now seems like a timely counter narrative to a packed McCaw Hall, just 2 weeks after the election.

So…if you like what you see, please consider giving the video a “thumbs up”.

And I encourage you to share this with any/all who might be interested.

Thank you kindly!