On Kim’s Corner and The Onion

This place

Is a living

Breathing

Evolving

Ecosystem

Of Artists

Because this is what artists do

We take inspiration

From our environment

From other artists

From history

To look at a space and see

What it was

What it is

And what it could be

When I die I want people to know that I was here.

I don’t need more than being able to live to the next day.

I just want to make art and make the world a happier place.

I see you. I read your story and saw glimpses of your life. I see your art and the community you’ve built.

Our time on Earth is limited, but the impact of our actions transcends mortality. Your impact tells me

We have a place here

We can live humbly

We can heal

We can keep making art

And

Be happy.

There are differences in our ethnicity and culture, but we are connected in the diaspora. I see a part of myself in every immigrant and them in myself. We pulled our roots up from the soil of our homeland. We looked for richer soil and a brighter future. And like dandelion seeds we floated to the western world. With hope, resilience, and our deepest wishes. We planted ourselves on foreign land. We exchange our mother tongue, we learn to assimilate, we work and make sacrifices, just to coexist with people that may never stop seeing us as foreigners. We are different, but there are people who still fail to make the distinction. In the face of Western discrimination, there are more and more commonalities that connect us.

After years of feeling like I had nowhere to belong, I realized that I had to create it for myself. Find the people who remind you of home. Find the people who accept you as you are and your potential to grow. Take the time to rest. 

I don’t accept the world as it is. So for me to keep living, I have to do what I can to make this world a place I would want to live in. I don’t want to exploit. I don’t want to hoard resources for myself. I just want to live. I want to have enough, and give the rest back to the community.