The Bay Area's Hub for Asian Pacific American Community Arts Since 1972
APAture 2015: Future Tense
Visual Arts Showcase | Artist Bios
Austin Boe is an emerging artist and film maker from Minnesota. He recently received his M.F.A. from California College of the Arts, emphasizing in printmaking. In 2013 he received his B.F.A. in drawing, painting, and printmaking from the the University of Minnesota, Duluth. He has shown work at Prove Gallery, University of Minnesota, Duluth, Tweed Museum, Ochre Ghost Gallery, Oliver Art Center, California College of the Arts, and University of Las Vegas. Austin is currently living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Rea Lynn De Guzman is an interdisciplinary artist working in painting, print media, and sculpture. Originally from Manila, Philippines, she emigrated to the United States as a teenager. She received her B.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2009, and her M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2014. Her work was featured recently at Emergent Art Space and ARTslant, where she was awarded ArtSlant’s 6th 2014 Showcase Juried Winner in the mixed-media category. She is currently a studio artist and instructor at Root Division, as well as a general planning committee member for Kearny Street Workshop’s APAture 2015. She lives and works in San Francisco.
Jana and Lawrence are two souls that met through star maps meandering through space and time. They both share an affinity towards art, hip-hop, indigenous studies, social justice, and all things made of dreams. Both attended college in San Francisco and became teachers with Pin@y Educational Partnerships for several years. As both teachers and lifelong students, the two have carried art with them as a means to depict their herstory/history, philosophy, politics, memories, and hopes. Though different in story and process, the two share similar paths toward liberating the mind and healing with nature. When not drawing and painting, they are usually sharing snacks and hanging out with their spirit guides: TJ and Holden.
Alan Khum is a Khmer-American fine artist born and raised in San Francisco. He attends San Francisco State University, pursuing a professional practice in studio art. As a product of Cambodian refugee parents who survived the Khmer Rouge era, he seeks to find hope and connect with people who have endured various tragic episodes throughout their lives. Using art, Alan hopes to combat the societal structure of institutions as well as the Westernized ideology of the stereotypical model minority for Asian Americans. Alan implements cats as metaphors and sympathizers to cohere with his audience on survival. Cats are by their nature survivalists, and in his artwork, Alan allows cats to take on the personas of human beings, relating to those who are trying to survive in the world we live in.
Grace Kim is a Korean-American photographer based in California. She produces photography, video, and light installations. Her work explores and embraces the experiences of disorientation while also leading the viewer to feel connected and alive. In addition, her work stems from a curiosity in the nuances that define different cultures and communities, while simultaneously exploring the forces that cause them to evolve. She is currently pursuing professional opportunities in commercial photography and production management.
Kyong Ae Kim works predominantly painting and drawing. Kyong completed her M.F.A. at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2005. Her work has been exhibited in the Bay Area, the Boston area, as well as Marin MOCA, OHT Gallery, Judi Rotenberg Gallery, Watson Fine Art at Wheaton College, the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and the Aqua Art Fair in Miami. Kyong is a recipient of the Murphy & Cadogan Fellowship from the San Francisco Foundation and the Korean Honor Scholarship from the Embassy of Korea, Washington, D.C. Her public collection includes the National Museum of Contemporary Art in South Korea and Wellington Management Company L.L.P. in Boston. Kyong was born in Gyeongju, South Korea. Currently, she lives and practices in San Francisco.
Hadar Kleiman originally hails from Jerusalem, Israel, and is currently based in San Francisco. Hadar received a B.F.A. from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in 2013, and also recently earned an M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute, specializing in sculpture. With main focuses that include luxury, romance, death, and the supernatural, Hadar's installation allows the viewer to walk through and experience these themes. She uses materials such as clay, wood, and marble to reflect upon natural versus handmade construction.
Topher Maka is a Filipino-American painter and illustrator based in San Francisco. Influenced largely by Asian-American vantages, street art, nature, and the surrounding community, his art seeks to teach and provide empowering narratives. Using vibrant colors and personally expressive themes, Topher aims to provoke and engage in ineludible conversations. Many of his works discuss the issue of increasing visibility of cultural self-worth through magnified and illustrative interpretations in an effort to feed the soul.
Nicholas Oh recently graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in art. He focuses on creating ceramic sculpture that contains messages of racism in an attempt to bring light to these messages. Oh has also done residencies at Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan, the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado, and Good Pots Studio in Hawaii.
Sunshine Velasco is a queer-identified Pilipina who pushes social and political boundaries to convey images through portraits, fine art, and documentary projects. Sunshine’s images have been featured in daily newspapers such Asian News and The Roundup News, The Daily Californian, KQED, San Francisco Chronicle and the web outlet mattblack.com. Additional media coverage has included Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month as well as Makeshift magazine. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Bay Area at venues such as Betti Ono Gallery, SomArts Gallery, and as part of curated multimedia events such as Outside the Frame Film.
Jeremy Keith Villaluz is a photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Conceptually, he's interested in creating images that examine the intersections of space, time, power, and social structure. Working as a self-taught photographer for about a decade, Jeremy has recently taken on a more formal approach to elevating his work, and he has begun to work toward an M.F.A. at the San Francisco Art Institute. He is scheduled to complete the program the spring of 2016.
Manon Bogerd Wada engages in the space between landscape and humanity, often using recycled or repurposed mediums. Within found objects, she discovers hidden stories and is intrigued to divulge the unseen and overlooked. In recent years, Manon has worked as a teaching artist and has been awarded grants for her HEARTH Community Art Garden Project to partner with public elementary schools in Oakland. Currently, she lives in San Francisco, working with children with autism spectrum disorder. Manon completed her B.F.A. in community arts with concentrations in sculpture and art education from California College of the Arts.
Tianxing Wang was born in China, and came to the United States in 2008. He received his B.F.A. in photography and film at Texas Christian University, and his M.F.A. at California College for the Arts. As a result of his travels between America and China for more than seven years, his work focuses on globalization, urbanization, consumerism, and cultural exchange. Influenced by On Karawa, Tehching Hsieh, and Yoko Ono, Tianxing believes that making art is not for art’s sake—rather, the artist is his own art. His work uses photography, video, calligraphy, as well as multimedia collaboration. He continues to travel to China and back to the U.S. to work on his ongoing project "Invisible Man."
Xiao Wang grew up in Beijing, China. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland, where he received his B.F.A. in painting and printmaking, and he earned his M.F.A. in painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. His work has been shown in the United Kingdom and California, and has received the Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Award in 2014 and the Anne Bremer Memorial Prize (1st Prize) in 2015.