Crossing Borders
Ara K.
Acrylic paint on paper, mixed media, and red embroidery thread on a 24" x 48" board.
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How can we reconstruct our ancestral narrative when stories, records, and family members are lost in the tumultuous tides of war and division? This layered, multi-generational piece aims to represent a physical and conscious restitching of the Korean diasporic story – a history that can be traced through my own lineage as a Korean-American youth. Red thread laces together portraits of refugees that threaten to rip apart. Older holds younger in a desperate attempt to preserve familial connection. Each figure sits woven atop a backdrop of newspaper cutouts exclaiming victory over the North Korean “Reds”. Yet, in the face of war, we are not our borders; we are father, mother, and child. While representative of the tenuous hold survivors and descendants of war possess over their histories, I wanted this work to also embody a commitment to reforging the narrative of separation and loss – a struggle universally faced by many.
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To me, creativity is unique expression. In my art practice, it is using visual tools - like medium, composition, and style - to communicate a concept in an exciting new way. Visual art can evoke emotions in a way that is unique to itself.
