February 25–April 12

During the past 60 years, over 200,000 adopted Korean children were brought to the U.S. and raised in predominantly white families. In a community Art Project titled, Seeds From The East: The Korean Adoptee Portrait Project, A.D. Herzel worked with 12 fellow Korean immigrants from the U.S. and Norway to bear witness to their stories. In an act of cultural reclamation, A.D. created this project to navigate the loss of her Korean culture, ancestry, and language. 

In this exhibition Herzel presents a selection of works from her series Mirror Silhouettes. This series of floral embellished ink and graphite silhouettes are inspired by the lives of these adopted children; now adults, who shared their stories with her and is a testament to their struggle and survival. The floral motifs in each portrait stemmed from the question, “What was your adoptive mother’s favorite flower?” Some did not know how to answer as they were estranged from their adoptive mothers. In those cases, the image began with their own favorite flowers. The flower is a symbol of reproductive desire. Parental desire, rooted in the loss of one’s family, does not guarantee filial piety. The images are spontaneous organic meditations inspired by the life stories shared with Herzel, intimating her subjects’ evolving search for identity. Learn more about A.D. Herzel