What does it mean to belong – when your heritage lives in one world and your body, your voice, and your every day are shaped by another?
At Avondale Arts Center, American Asian exhibit curated by Nicole Kang brings that question into vivid focus. Featuring 16 Georgia-based artists of Asian descent, the group show offers a multimedia look at the “third culture” experience.
“I wanted to present as wide a spectrum of backgrounds and styles as possible,” Kang said. “The represented artists are professional illustrators, muralists, fine artists, filmmakers, educators, and entrepreneurs.”
Kang, a current artist in residence through Midtown Alliance’s Heart of the Arts program and Creative Communications Manager at the Asian American Advocacy Fund, said she was drawn to the opportunity to organize a show that reflected both personal and collective questions of Asian American belonging.
“It was exciting to discover the parallels in themes and various artists’ approaches through the curatorial process,” Kang said. “The outcomes and the pieces range widely in size, aesthetics, and materials, but the stories and the intentions are often aligned.”
Kang’s care in combining mediums and memories is apparent to visitors, who are met with intimate portraits, experimental abstraction, and visual narratives examining the link between heritage and homeland.
Featured artists include:
- Sanithna, who works primarily in ink, acrylic, and mural-scale installations to create figurative compositions
- Helen Choi, whose practice spans digital illustration, watercolor, and pen-and-ink to capture scenes rooted in Korean heritage and everyday observation.
- Killamari, who blends spray paint, acrylic, and mixed media collage in layered portraits that reflect street culture and personal identity.
- Crystal Jin Kimm, an award-winning independent filmmaker whose practice encompasses photography, drawing, painting, and the use of materials like mother-of-pearl.
- And Janice Rago, who uses oil and acrylic on canvas to build vibrant, symbol-rich paintings exploring inner worlds and transformation.
To Kang, American Asian is a starting point for deeper connection.
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“While there has been more AAPI presence in media recently, the presented stories remain limited,” she said. ” In actuality, Asian Americans are just humans who possess dreams, regrets, and history. I wanted the artwork here to be reflective of the artists for who they are, as they are.”
American Asian is on view through June 21 at the Avondale Arts Center (106 N Avondale Rd), open Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or by appointment.
