Memory Garden
by Julia Chon
December 20, 2024 - June 20, 2025
ON VIEW AT PLAIN SIGHT
3218 GEORGIA AVENUE NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20010
Julia Chon’s Memory Garden explores the impermanence of memory. The exhibition features a selection of handpainted onggi, Korean ceramic vessels used to ferment foods such as kimchi. Onggi can be found in the countryside of Korea, on the balconies of apartments, and at the heart of the Korean and Korean diasporic home. Julia’s undertaking of painting 54 of these vessels is an homage to the number of years her family has lived in the U.S. since immigrating in 1970.
Each onggi that she paints represents the forgotten memories of her family, the stories and personal histories that have been lost to time as the older generations in her family have passed. Each vessel holds names, dates, feelings, and faded experiences. Each vessel holds the grief, hope, and resilience of the immigrant journey. Memory Garden encourages viewers to find peace within the transitory nature of life.
This exhibition was Julia's culminating project from her 2024 residency at The Nicholson Project.
Julia Chon, better known by her artist name Kimchi Juice, is a Washington DC-based artist and muralist. Chon’s work focuses on honoring her Korean heritage. Her recent work centers on Korean Earthenware sculptures representative of traditional kimchi pots. One of her first kimchi pots was acquired into the Smithsonian permanent art collection in 2022. Chon’s work explores the relationship between cultural tradition and its effects on generational identity and the decisions Asian Americans make to form their identities. With a prominent Korean aesthetic in each piece, Chon merges her ancestry and traditions with the contemporary to convey the nuances of the Korean diaspora. As Chon’s work makes its way from canvas to large-scale murals, these intimate portraits take center stage in an urban environment. Her murals can be found internationally and her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in Washington DC, Los Angeles, CA and Miami, FL. Chon’s clients and collaborations include NASA, Apple, the Korean Cultural Center, and the Phillips Collection, among others. Chon was featured in the HBO docuseries “Take Out with Lisa Ling.”