To Grow Together With is a set of five banners featuring quotes by individuals of diverse cultural backgrounds who have contributed to my recent projects on belonging. It is inspired by how belonging makes you feel—how meaningful, motivating, and life-affirming it is to be unafraid to be who you are, and to feel like you are a part of something greater than yourself. The quotes articulate how our ups and downs connect us and nourish our tender solidarities.
I created To Grow Together With when I was commissioned to create new work exploring Asian American belonging for a venue in San José, California. To emphasize cross-cultural solidarity among immigrant communities and language justice, each banner is bilingual in English and Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, or Korean—the top five languages spoken by residents of Greater San José who speak English “less than very well,” according to the 2020 Census.
Alongside To Grow Together With, I presented additional perspectives on belonging from Asian Americans and other immigrants. These were gathered from recent participatory research social practice projects: 100 Stories of Belonging, Belonging at the Los Angeles Public Library, Alive & Present: Cultural Belonging in S.F. Chinatown & Manilatown, Hopes for Chinatown, What I Love & Miss (inspired by Kaiya, Celina, and Kevin), and How I Keep Looking Up / Como Sigo Mirando Arriba / 仰望.
In an adjacent gallery, I created interactive activities to invite the public to share their perspectives on belonging and community care.
Visitors could reflect on 15 qualities of belonging, which I identified in collaboration with Evan Bissell during my residency with the Othering & Belonging Institute at U.C. Berkeley. Or they could share perspectives or instructions on community care.
Exhibition views, P L A C E : Reckonings by Asian American Artists, March 23–August 11, 2024, Institute for Contemporary Art San José. P L A C E was jointly presented by the ICA San José and Montalvo Arts Center, and co-curated by Judy Koong Dennis and Zoë Latzer. Installation view photos by Glen Cheriton. Detail photos by Christine Wong Yap.
Credit: Christine Wong Yap and contributors, To Grow Together With (inspired by YongYu Lei 雷泳瑜, Susana Rojas, Lupita Iraheta, Caroline Cabading, and Jinkyung “Coco” Im), 2024. Five bilingual banners: social practice, translation, calligraphy, digitally-printed fabric, 70 x 22 inches / 28 x 44 inches / 31 x 44 inches.
To Grow Together With was supported by the Institute for Contemporary Art San José and the Lucas Artists Residency Program, Montalvo Arts Center. Sewing by Joy Brace. Translations and translation assistance by the Boo & Ong families, Caroline Cabading, Lee Oscar Gomez, Lauren Huang, the Kim family, Hoi Leung, and Lan Nguyen. Additional thanks to Kelly Sicat, James G. Leventhal, Sam Marks, Paul Gallo, and the many other Montalvo and ICA staff and volunteers who contributed to the project and programs.