GYOPO is excited to co-present with Reflectspace Gallery a walkthrough of the exhibit (Be)Longing: Asian Diasporic Crossings currently on view until September 22.

Please join us for an intimate exhibition walkthrough of (Be)Longing: Asian Diasporic Crossings which delves into the multi-generational afterlives of war and displacement and East-West Asian diasporic placemaking through maps, sculptures, photography, archives, video, and layered materiality. The walkthrough will include an overview of the exhibition with co-curator Anahid Oshagan who will address the political context of this exhibition and the history of solidarity between local Armenian and Korean-American communities over Comfort Women recognition. This will be followed by conversations with three of the artists about their work: Jennifer Cheh’s ceramics, Annette Miae Kim’s abstract scroll maps, and Kyong Boon Oh’s sculptural installations.

3 free hours of parking is available with validation at the Marketplace parking structure across the street from the Harvard Street entrance. Accessible parking is available on the east side of the building. View the Visit page for public transit information.

JENNIFER CHEH
Jennifer Cheh was born in Seoul in 1965 and relocated to New York, when she was seven. She earned her BFA in environmental design at Parsons School of Design. She moved to California and received her M.Arch from Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in 1994.

Her multidisciplinary background showcases her commitment to exploring the intersections of art, design, and cultural exchange. Her creations respond to that in-between cultural space in which layers of language, not only spoken, intersect; blending and renewing expression; just as clay is extracted from its ground and transformed, it doesn’t lose its earthy extraction. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

ANNETTE MIAE KIM
Annette Miae Kim (b.1968 New York) comes from a family of refugees, immigrants, and citizens with family members in North Korea, South Korea, Germany, and Ethiopia. Her lived experiences are foundational to the themes of migration and diaspora in her work in abstract paintings, cinematic videos, interactive media, and installations. Her artwork also explores the role and limits of text and language in placemaking. Her social practice research involves long-term collaborations with community-based arts organizations, building cultural asset maps of the histories and narratives of marginalized peoples and places. She is a co-founder of RAP, the Race, Arts, and Place collective. She earned her BA in Studio Art and Architecture from Wellesley College, MA in Public Policy from Harvard University, MA in Visual Studies and PhD in Urban Planning from UC Berkeley. She holds faculty appointments at USC’s Roski School of Art and Design and Price School of Public Policy.

KYONG BOON OH
Korean-born, Los Angeles-based artist, Kyong Boon Oh is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans sculpture, painting, photo/video collages, and sculptural installations, blending spiritual practice with art practice. She underwent a transformative journey, shifting from creating tall figurative paintings to weaving metal wires, a meditative craft inspired by her father’s legacy and her own struggles with physical illness. Her art, influenced by her experiences as a first- generation immigrant, serves as a personal map that navigates the complex terrain of assimilation, nostalgia, and belonging, situated between chaos and order. Through her evolving practice, which now includes community engagement initiatives like the “Flow with Medium” workshop, she aspires to reveal personal histories as communal destinies that transcends time and space.

ANAHID OSHAGAN
Anahid considers herself fortunate to be able to combine her passion for advocacy, art, and social justice in her professional life as an attorney in private practice as well as a co-curator of ReflectSpace Gallery. Since her student activism days, Anahid has passionately championed human and women’s rights and empowerment, tolerance, community building, and anti-racism—subjects highlighted and extensively explored in curating exhibits at ReflectSpace Gallery with a goal of educating, fostering constructive dialog, tolerance and ultimately, change.

(Be)Longing: Asian Diasporic Crossings Walkthrough with artists Jennifer Cheh, Annette Miae Kim, Kyong Boon Oh and co-curator Anahid Oshagan

Walkthrough with artists and co-curator