We are all connected to ancient traditions.
Yet within the Korean diaspora—marked by colonization, war, migration, othering and time—many of us live apart from them. With this lens, this space explores how memory, story, and art can create connections across time and into the future.
Origins
As a child of the Korean diaspora, I find myself at the nexus of these forces. And, in watching my elders age and two young daughters grow, a surging curiosity has awakened—to uncover the stories alive within my blood and bones.
In Korean culture, there is a word: 한 (han), a uniquely Korean word that holds layers of sorrow, resilience, and longing. It is a deep emotion that can transform pain into possibility. This concept has become a guide in my process of idenity exploration and diasporic connection-building.
The Work of Remembering
Led by this curiosity, I’m in a season of story gathering, engaging with my mother, relatives, community, and archives, piecing together cherished gems of memory, history, and place.
Among stacks of dusty books, black-and-white photos from Korea, and the work of other history-keepers and artists, I’m immersed in deep gratitude for the heirlooms of story. And, in doing so, learning that remembrance can be a form of affirmation, healing and embodied future building.
The Practice
Through my personal practice of photography, writing, and sound exploration, I seek to explore Korean symbolism through my own lens, capturing moments of curiosity, identity, and joy.
Each piece here is an offering: from the past, processed in the present, given to the future.
Artist Bio
These threads run through my creative practice. My name is Hannah Choe (최해나) Abuzaineh, a Korean-American artist and writer engaging ancestry, memory, and connection through storytelling and visual and auditory media.
I explore how individual and shared histories exist within the body, place, and imagination, especially as I witness my two young daughters come into their own stories. I’m drawn to the intersections of loss and renewal, remembering and reimagining, past and future. Each of my projects exists as a way of reestablishing a connection—of tapping into what continues to live across generations.
My creative work is influenced by two decades in storytelling and social impact—spanning documentary film, philanthropy, and brand narratives that connect people to place, purpose, and one another.
