128. Charles Kay Jr. on the American Dream, Identity, and His Exhibition 'Unseen: Emerging from the Currents of Assimilation'

128. Charles Kay Jr. on the American Dream, Identity, and His Exhibition 'Unseen: Emerging from the Currents of Assimilation'

Riverside Chats

Charles Kay Jr. is a first-generation Thai-American visual artist whose work explores assimilation, identity and the American Dream. Kay’s parents immigrated from Thailand in the 1960s and anglicized their names to fit in. Much of Kay’s work explores the toll of assimilation on his own family and the immigrant experience at large. His exhibition “Unseen: Emerging from the Currents of Assimilation” is on display at Kaneko through February 5, 2023. In this conversation with Maria Corpuz, he shares his experience growing up in Omaha with immigrant parents, the racism he and his family have endured, and his changing relationship with his Asian-American identity.

Learn more about "Unseen" here. 

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