Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Youngsun Choi Interview, Adam Martinez

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio: YoungSun Choi was born in Seoul, South Korea and is currently living in Chicago, IL. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 2018 and her Bachelor of Arts from San Francisco State University majoring in Studio Art with an emphasis in Photography in 2015 where she was awarded the Strauss Scholarship for Photography as well as the Sher-Right Art Scholarship.

Kaveri Raina Interview, Eva Swiecki

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Kaveri Raina is an artist working in Chicago, IL. She was born and raised in New Delhi, India and moved to the States at the age of eleven. In 2011 she received her BFA in Painting and Photography from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and in 2016 her MFA in Painting and Drawing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Raina was a 2016 recipient of the James Nelson Raymond Fellowship, Fred and Joanna Lazarus Scholarship, amongst others. In fall 2016 she completed a five-week residency at Ox-Bow, in Saugatuck, MI. Raina has exhibited in Chicago, New …

Mayumi Lake Interview, Raegen Balton-Watkins

Asian American Art Oral History Project

“Mayumi Lake is a Chicago-based artist. Her photography and video work delve into childhood and pubescent dreams, phobia and desires. She employs herself and others as her models, as well as dolls, toys, weapons, vintage clothes, and altered landscape as her props.” - http://mayumilake.com/about.html-

BFA, 1997, MFA, 2000, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Exhibitions/screenings: Miyako Yoshinaga Gallery, Asia Society, Art in General, Artists Space, New York; Fotograpie Forum International, Frankfurt; Cornelius Pleser Galerie, Munich; Director's Lounge, Berlin; Bangkok International Art Festival, Bangkok; Galleria PaciArte, Brescia; FOTOAMERICA, Santiago; Ellen Curlee Gallery, St. Louis; O Gallery, Tokyo. Monograph: Poo-Chi, …

Mie Kongo Interview, Mimonna Aljaber

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Mie Kongo grew up in the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan and now lives and works in Evanston IL, where she makes multidisciplinary work: ceramic sculptures & installations, 2D work and porcelain designed objects. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including recent exhibitions, “Unknown game series” at Dan Devening Projects + editions, Chicago, IL "Beyond Function" Arts and Literature Laboratory, Madison, WI, "Reformat: Digital Fabrication in Clay" Lillstreet Art Gallery, Chicago, IL, “Circle in a Square” Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL. She has been showing her porcelain products at Paul Kotula Projects, Ferndale MI and Room 406, …

Shaurya Kumar Interview, Tejas Patel

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: A native of Delhi, India where he studied printmaking and painting at the College of Art; Shaurya Kumar graduated with his MFA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2007. Since 2001, Kumar has been involved in numerous prestigious research projects, like “The Paintings of India” (a series of 26 documentary films on the painting tradition of India); "Handmade in India" (an encyclopedia on the handicraft traditions of India); and digital restorations of 6th century Buddhist mural paintings from the caves of Ajanta. Kumar’s research is focused on creating works which appreciate and appropriate new media while highlighting the …

Aram Han-Sifuentes Interview, Yanessa Rodriguez

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio:
Aram Han Sifuentes learned how to sew when she was 6 years old from her seamstress mother. Han Sifuentes was born in Seoul, South Korea and immigrated to Modesto, California as a child. She mines from her family’s immigration experience to address issues of labor and explores identity as a first generation immigrant.

Han Sifuentes’s work has been shown in national and international exhibitions. Her work has been included in exhibitions at the Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum in Seoul, South Korea; Wing Luke Museum of Asian Pacific American Experience in Seattle, WA; Center for Craft, Creativity and …

Joanne Aono Interview, Charlie Lacke

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Joanne Aono is a Japanese American Sansei artist, born in Chicago. She received a BFA from Drake University with post graduate classes through the SAIC.

Solo and two person exhibitions of her paintings and drawings include South Shore Arts, Images Gallery, Eyeporium Gallery, Dayton Street, and 303 Erie Artspace, with an upcoming solo show at the Lee Dulgar Gallery. Joanne has shown in numerous group exhibitions including Julius Caesar, Contemporary Art Workshop, Governor’s State University, Woman Made Gallery, Beverly Art Center, Northern Illinois University, and Art Chicago International. She has received City of Chicago Arts grants in addition to …

Magdalena Arguelles Interview, Gabriela Porras

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio:

Magdalena Arguelles was born in 1963 in Iloilo City, Philippines. Her family moved to the United States when she was six and a half years old. Arguelles studied at the Art Institute where she developed her passion for still lives and landscapes, which she incorporates in her lovely collages. Believing that art is an extension of herself, Magdalena uses her style of art to recreate a memory, or to address more serious issues such as immigration.

http://mdalenamolina.wixsite.com/-magdalena-arguelles

Cheng-Yung Kuo Interview, Matthew Pranica

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Cheng-Yung Kuo was born and raised in Taiwan. He immigrated to the United States 11 years ago to study art. Enrolling in a community college on the south side of Chicago he graduated with honors as a Phi Theta Kappa All-USA Academic Team Nominee in 2006. He transferred to the School of Art Institute of Chicago to receive his Bachelors of Fine Arts. In 2009 he received his Masters of Fine Arts degree from SAIC. Now three years out of college, Cheng-Yung Kuo works at a company called Primitive and works on his personal artwork on the side.

These …

Liat Smestad, Amy Dosen

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio:

"Coming from a family of architects, I saw how closely related the functions of fashion and architecture are. I wanted to explore the function of fashion further and began my coursework in fashion design, focusing on the protective aspect of clothing. My focus on the protective function of clothing led me to a 25+ years career in fur design. My artistic explorations have led me in some interesting directions. I continually reshape my idea as an artist and the boundaries of my art. I've recently branched out into photography and also returned to my childhood passion: painting. I …

Michiko Itatani Interview, Liza Rush

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2010 interview with painter and School of the Art Institute of Chicago professor Michiko itatani by Liza Rush

Chris Naka Interview, Cheryl Franzen

Asian American Art Oral History Project

2009 interview with new media and video artist Chris Naka by Cheryl Franzen