All Eyes on Us: Invention & Ingenuity During Artistic Diasporas shines a spotlight on “hidden dragons” - individuals whose artistic careers, practices and expressions shape shifted or became dormant as they navigated the complexities of immigration, assimilation and survival. Impacted by displacement, resource scarcity, and cultural marginalization - some indefinitely postponed their creative journeys, while others ingeniously adapted their artistic expressions, merging their past with their present in unexpected ways.

The exhibition explores the consequential lights and shadows of these “hidden dragons”. In what ways were these individuals’ stories, experiences, and legacies deliberately submerged, overlooked, or made to be invisible? Conversely, how might their hidden status be a form of protection or act of freedom, essential for sustenance and survival? How may hiding provide moments of respite, a space for incubation, or safeguarding until the moment for emergence arrives?

Featuring sound art, mixed media, installations, and photography by artists Bhumikorn Kongtaveelert, David Huang, Hou Yumei, Jeanette Lazam, Jiabao Li, Leland Wong, Master Ko Si Hing, Sun Park, Terry Luk, and Yuqian Sun, the exhibition uplifts Asian American and diasporic stories of resilience, ingenuity, and triumph over adversity. Through their art forms, the artists demonstrate how adeptly they persist between the pragmatic and impractical, reconfiguring and creating alternative spaces for artistic expression. Moving within the dialectic of self-awareness, self-compromise, and self-survival, the artists in the exhibition prompt us to consider ways in which we are asked to continually reshape ourselves, understanding when and how to hold ourselves until we are ready to come into the light.

Image:

Edge on the Square_ All Eyes on Us. Courtesy of Edge on the Square