This is a space for watering.
About
Hello - I’m Hannah and I’m so glad you’re here. Here with Han is a personal project and growing space of exploration into memory, creativity, and stories that shape us through the lens of Korean-American identity.
For the first twenty years of my life, I tried very hard to shed the Korean parts of me—a response shaped by generations of assimilation, and a family history tethered to immigration, displacement, war, and occupation.
Today, I find myself between generations, watching my elders grow older while raising two daughters of my own. What’s clear to me now is that reconnecting to my own story is inseparable from shaping the stories they will inherit. This has fundamentally changed the questions I’m asking.
What is inheritance and where does it come from?
What is mine to carry forward? What can I let go?
What is this work asking of me?
This is my practice of tending to and restoring parts of myself while moving with these questions. Through these projects, I hope to cultivate a deeper sense of belonging, to myself, my family, and my community, and create space for others to explore their own stories, too.
Portrait by Shel Kim Rollison
Inspired by HanHan (한 - pronounced ‘hahn’) is a uniquely Korean and inherited emotion born from centuries of collective trauma and resilience.
For a long time, I only understood its weight as unresolved pain and sorrow. Today, my work is inspired by the many layers of han including the affirming, fierce, and unyielding hope that exists within it. It is a guide for my storytelling and a creative commitment to embrace the generational manifestations of grief while holding space for ritual and renewal.
음수사원
“When drinking water, remember the source.”
Korean Idiom