Works by artists from Asian diaspora displayed at Huntington Town Hall

An art exhibit featuring artists from the Asian diaspora will be on display at Huntington Town Hall through May in celebration of Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

The exhibit of paintings, photos and woodworks will feature 14 women artists who range in age from 15 to 60 and represent countries including Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam and beyond, said Joan Kim Suzuki, 34, of Plainview, who is the exhibit's curator.

Being seen, erasing stereotypes and reveling in being an artist are among reasons the for the show, organizers said.

Huntington Town is partnering with Long Island-based United Asian American Alliance, a nonprofit that was formed this year to advocate for the rights, empowerment and representation of Asian Americans. 

Lucie Kwon, president of the alliance, said many talented Asian artists on Long Island have felt excluded because of language barriers, demands of family life or simply feeling unheard and unseen and not knowing where to get information.

She said an art show opens the door to opportunity.

“I thought it was a great way to let people in the community see their fellow Americans and the talents that they have who happen to be from the AAPI community,” said Kwon.

Below are some of the artists whose works will be featured.

Carina San Jose, 17, a Half Hollow Hills High School West senior, created her acrylic painting of three blood oranges as part of an assignment in her AP drawing class. Her series uses fruit as a symbol of love and romance.

“I’m very inspired by the emotion and historical usage of fruit as representations of emotions in paintings,” she said. 

She said being part of the show is a unique opportunity because it allows Asian and Pacific Islander artists to be represented. 

“It’s important to see myself represented in other people while also being a representative of my people," said San Jose, whose family is from the Philippines. "I didn’t get to see a lot of that growing up.”

Jae Won Shim said her acrylic painting “Neither ... nor” represents the dichotomy between how people see her and how she sees herself.

Her experience after moving to the United States from India in 2002 made her realize that people do not necessarily see her as an individual.

“I never thought of myself as a race, I thought of myself as a mom, an artist, and also Korean,” said Shim, 40, a Nesconset resident. “I wanted to illustrate that being Asian is not just one thing.”

The painting features a leopard surrounded by greenery and a bird of paradise flower. The leopard is painted yellow with black spots to represent both a black and patterned leopard.

“It has an ambiguous coat,” she said. “I wanted to illustrate the fact that if you are neither this nor that, even if you don’t fit someone’s preconceived ideas, you are still the same in essence as anyone else, and you should be represented.”

Susan Tian, 33, of Long Beach, submitted a photo of her daughter Leila, 5, and her son Jet, 3, at Sensoji Temple on a recent trip to Tokyo.

The photo, entitled Temizuya, shows Leila participating in a hand-washing ritual that typically takes place outside of a shrine or a temple in Shinto or Buddhist cultures, Tian said.

Leila was able to connect a similar cleansing tradition in Judaism that she is familiar with from her family's Chinese and Jewish background. Tian said she hopes the picture will inspire people to also look deeper to seek connections.

“I want them to wonder ‘Oh, what is that? What are they are doing?’” she said, referring to the title of her photo. “Maybe they will look it up and make a connection and see this is very similar to other cultures.”

She said the exhibit also contributes to breaking stereotypes about Asians.

“Art isn’t always the profession Asians are commonly associated with,” she said. “The exhibition highlights the immense talent within the Asian American community and showcases a diverse range of artistic expressions and perspectives.”

"By the River," by  Joan Kim Suzuki, is a woodblock print on Japanese paper.

Kim Suzuki said her piece is what she imagines a peaceful, yet playful childhood in ancient Korea looked like.

“I always imagined that my ancestors spent their time like that, one with nature,” she said.

Her hope is that people come away feeling healed and educated after seeing her piece and also educated. Long Island, she said, has amazing artists who draw serene lighthouses and beaches, "but also people that have traveled the world and brought their experiences here and are contributing to the community."

The exhibit will be on display weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., through May 30 in the lobby of Town Hall. Identification is needed to enter the building.