Introducing GHOST ROOTS: A New 강강술래 Ganggangsullae

I am so angry and so distraught right now. I read last night about the murder of Christina Yuna Lee in her apartment in Chinatown, NYC. It’s difficult not to feel “that could have been me” or “that could have been my own daughter.” Someone following you into your home just before the front door closes—it could happen to any of us.

The number of Asian American women who have been murdered, attacked, violated, in the last two years is too much.

What is my body worth? It is only visible if it tells the story of the model minority myth. It is only visible if it can prove that the American Dream is within the grasp of the lowly immigrant.

This is a photo of my hands taken by Mel Taing on a recent studio visit. These hands…I must keep using them to create works that lift up the stories of my sisters who understand this cloak of invisibility forced upon us.

I stand here today, remembering Christina Yuna Lee, Michelle Gu, the women who were murdered in Atlanta, GA, and others whose names we don’t know. We will not forget.

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The timing of this isn’t lost on me. I was preparing this post to share with you what I’d been working on for the past year, but especially in the last several months. I’d been all consumed by this project. I couldn’t not talk about the Asian American women who have died violently recently because they have been foremost in my mind as I created this project.

So, please find some photos and info below, even as I am feeling raw about what it means to be a Korean American woman in this country today.

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I am getting ready to release the trailer to my performance art film GHOST ROOTS, a work that was conceived during the early days of the pandemic, a work that I have fed with my experiences of the past two years. A work that explores stories of the Asian American woman.

Here are some snapshots of myself and my collaborator, Fernadina Chan, during our final rehearsal. We are moving and dancing in front of projections of my stop motion animation and art.

Last year, around this time, I applied for a Live Arts Boston grant with The Boston Foundation. My proposed project was a reimagined 강강술래 Ganggangsullae. I imagined collaborating with other artists, I imagined writing spoken word, dancing, and creating visuals to be projected in the background. It was ambitious and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But I have now created what I set out to create and here I am.

Stay tuned for the trailer.

Also, I shared on my social media platforms, and I’ll share here too: if you have ideas for groups or organizations who would be interested in collaborating with me to showcase this performance which will be shared as a virtual performance, please get in touch with me. I’ve gotten a few leads that are in the works, but I feel many people will want to see this and experience this. Thank you in advance!