Threads of Belonging

Hollis Taggart Downtown is pleased to present Threads of Belonging: Ten Emerging Asian Women Artists, a group show spotlighting a new generation of Asian women artists whose practices come together in a chorus of voices spanning continents and cultures. While the artists represent diverse nationalities, they are united by shared roots in Asian heritage. Their works engage a wide range of themes, including memory, migration, identity and allegory. Together, these artists illuminate the vitality and diversity of contemporary art by Asian women artists based in America and across the globe. The exhibition will be on view from October 24 through November 26, with an opening reception on October 24 from 6 – 9 p.m. at 109 Norfolk Street.

Metaphysical concepts such as the human condition and spirituality are explored through the works of several artists in the show. Rosie Kim’s abstract practice draws on poetry and mythology to explore desire, longing and the contradictions of human emotion. Through the juxtaposition of opposing states: clarity and ambiguity, presence and absence, her semi-abstract surfaces reflect the shifting balance between strength and vulnerability. Inspired by Transcendentalist philosophy, Tiantian Ma’s layered, biomorphic forms present nature as a spiritual force and are interwoven with elements that seem almost astronomical. Shuling Guo draws on personal memories to shape her explorations of the body and self. Cycles of beauty, decline and rebirth are suggested in her soft and minimal visual language.

Themes of identity and self are approached through a figurative lens by Natsumi Goldfish and Chandra Fang. For Natsumi, depicting scenes and objects from everyday life allows her to deliver perspectives on things that are often hidden, unspoken and forgotten; those quiet undercurrents present within our daily routines. Fang, meanwhile, often depicts herself in scenes which capture the essence of a single moment. Both artists employ framing devices such as windows to establish a contemplative boundary between foreground and background, interior and exterior worlds, inviting a moment of quiet introspection.

Dalya Moumina and Winny Huang invite viewers into their colorful and imaginative landscapes. For Huang, Renaissance and Christian allegorical art left a lasting impression after she moved to the United States at the tender age of nine. She depicts angelic figures soaring among the trees and clouds, imbuing the landscapes with a sense of glory and spiritual uplift. For Moumina, the terrains of her home countries of the Philippines and Saudi Arabia act as inspiration for her surreal lands of winding hills and meandering valleys that feel both familiar and strange.

Finally, several artists embrace a bold, gestural visual language that bridges East and West, heritage and modern abstraction. Gabrielle Yi-Wen Mar’s gestural brushwork subtly recalls xieyi (寫意), the Chinese “freehand” painting tradition that privileges expressive brushwork over descriptive accuracy. At the same time, the vibrant chromatic language of her work evokes the bodily immediacy of mid-20th-century Abstract Expressionism. Her canvases offer abstraction as a personal encounter between color, body and perception. For Jennifer Jean Okumura, every color and gesture carries the imprint of her lived experience, coalescing into dramatic fields of energy that recall the atmospheric intensity of J.M.W. Turner. Ivy Wu’s canvases burst with bold color and dynamic yet refined brushwork. Oscillating between chaos and harmony, her compositions are like ecosystems through which she channels her lived experiences across the globe.

About Hollis Taggart Downtown

109 Norfolk Street, New York, NY 

Hollis Taggart Downtown represents the new secondary location for Hollis Taggart realized through a partnership between Hollis Taggart, Paul Efstathiou, and Eleanor de Ropp Flatow. The downtown expansion builds upon the gallery’s presence and commitment to emerging and mid-career artists.

For more information about Threads of Belonging, please contact us at info@hollistaggart.com or +1 212.628.4000.

For press inquiries, please contact us at press@hollistaggart.com or +1 212.628.4000.