Korean American Thanksgiving | 2022

SCUL Gallery at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville

Korean American Thanksgiving represents an adopted tradition and memory of growing up in the US. During every American “Thanksgiving,” my parents used to bring our family Kentucky Fried Chicken to eat as we did not celebrate the holiday. However, we continued the Korean celebration of the autumn harvest called 추석 Chuseok (translated as ‘Autumn Evening’).

My mother made a point to pay respects to my grandparents and ancestors. The arrangement on top of a 평상 pyeongsang - a Korean-style platform I reimagined and built - is an homage to contradicting rituals.

The clash between the capitalist representation of the KFC bucket and my mother’s heirloom ritual table speaks to the complexities of the diasporic experience, the impacts of US imperialism, and a direct response to my presence in Arkansas.