Through September 2024
An Beal Bocht, 445 W 238th St, Bronx, NY 10463

I grew up in the Rustbelt during the Reagan Era and have lived in NYC since 1991. My biracial experience, Greek mother, and Korean father influence my work. When I was a child, my father told folktales about Dokkaebi (Korean nature spirits and goblins), and my mother told bedtime stories about the Greek gods Morpheus, Pantasos, and Phobetor, all of whom would move household objects around at night to communicate with mortals. The early Dada artists, post-punk songwriters, and W.E.B. Du Bois are equally influential. Echoed by MLK in 1960, Du Bois wrote in 1910 that only through forbearance in de-emphasizing race consciousness and decriminalizing states of being could the “old-world dream of brotherhood” become a reality.

My collages, assemblages, and post-punk songs, Recollections of a Rustbelt Youth, delve into the complexities of my childhood experience in Michigan during a tumultuous time in American history, from 1977 to 1989. Through the use of post-consumer paper and packaging products as my art materials, I explore the emotional impact of the industrial decline, cultural anxiety (the beating to death of Vincent Chin), rise of hyper-consumerism, and gentrification, all of which were products of Reagan’s economic policy when he decreed that one packet of ketchup was equal to one serving of vegetables in school hot lunch programs. Recollections of a Rustbelt Youth aims to capture the essence of this period. I want to inspire a visceral, transformative understanding of the results of austerity and the challenges faced by those who lived through it.