The Chosun Family was formed during a pandemic Zoom call with artists Kayla Tange, Chuck Hohng, Coffee Kang, and Luka Fisher as the four artists assembled discussed how the virus had uprooted their lives and careers. The name evokes both the last and longest-lasting Korean imperial dynasty (1392-1910) and the radical potential for queer, chosen families that transcend and transgress the barriers and boundaries among nations and peoples.
This installation showcases work by individual members of the group as well as their overall aesthetic.
The Chosun Family Album zine, 2021
We fought, we laughed, we cried, we made food, we ate, we made, we made things, and we wrote: “The Chosun Family Album; From Our Family To Yours!" This zine compiles art created by our family and our extended family.
Currently untitled, Dry point print, 2020
Paper, ink
These works were all created during lockdown after Tange lost her job as a dancer and her UCLA art classes moved to the ZOOM platform. Swapping her heels for pickled vegetables, she became obsessed with making various kinds of pickles. The dry point print is based on a Polaroid image of Tange taken by Luka Fisher. The text was written by Tange during October of 2020.
Ball Gag Face Mask, 2020
White cotton face mask, rubber, leather
Pickled Stripper, 2020
Acrylic on cardboard
The Chosun Family
Get Cozy with our Customized Blanket, 2021
50”x60”
Normal gestures can feel small when social distancing, so the Chosun Family created this life-size self-portrait blanket. It is also reminiscent of pandemic social or romantic dates where each party brings their own blanket, food and drinks. Or even safer, if your friends or partners can’t be there in person, then you can just have them printed on your blanket.
The Chosun Family
Saponification, 2021
Take a sound bath with Saponification, a Chosun Family Album featuring music and performances by Coffee Kang, Luka Fisher, Kayla Tange, Chuck Hohng.
Performance, artist interview, under-the-table trade
Kang created a series of O-1 paintings (on display here) for an abstract art show at Last Projects to help her build her resume and make the case for her extraordinary brilliance to strengthen her O-1 visa application in order to continue living and working in the US.
The photograph, taken by Luka Fisher, documents an exchange between Coffee Kang and Kayla Tange in Chinatown’s historic gallery row. The two artists initiated a conversation during the pandemic from a safe distance using a blow horn, placards, and binoculars. As part of this exchange, Tange offered Kang to purchase these works using money amassed from tragic-comic exotic dancing.
The full story of this exchange is available in the zine, “The Chosun Family Album; From Our Family To Yours!"
Coffee Kang
Hand Therapy Ball, 2021
soap
Massage your hands, bodies, and mind with this series of cleansing soap therapy balls.
The Chosun Family
Eastern Orthodox Card, May 2, 2021
A hundred copies of our Spaghetti Eastern Orthodox Card were mailed out to friends, families among other art institutions, several of which were destroyed by the post office. Pictured: Chuck Hohng, Kayla Tange, Luka Fisher, Tsohil Bhatia (via FaceTime), and Coffee Kang (via mirror).
Chuck Hohng
Nakhwa/Gaehwa, 2020
materials
This object is one in a series titled Ghotjip. For this series, Hohng has reimagined traditional Korean funeral clothes inspired by funeral rituals. The title for the series comes from the name of a community housing unit for hearses in Korea. It is a sacred place of bonding between the family of the deceased and the townspeople who helped them grieve. In this piece, death and funeral is not only a fading of life but also the start of something new. Nakhwa (falling flowers) / Gaehwa (flower blooming) juxtapose the hope of life beyond/after tragedy.
The Chosun Family
Winter Holiday Card, December, 2020
One hundred copies were sent from our family to friends, families, and art institutions many of whom rejected Chosun Family’s queer cheer. Pictured: Chuck Hohng, Kayla Tange, Luka Fisher, Moran, and Coffee Kang (via mirror).
Chuck Hohng
Nadree (Stroll), 2020 - 2021
Fabric, stroller, doll
For this installation, Chuck Hohng has hand-sewed the hanbok the garments seen on the mannequin. He wears a hanbok, a traditional Korean garment. Hohng is interested in revisiting this historical garment and how it is evolving with time. On top, the mannequin sports a men’s length Jeogory and on the bottom he wears a Chima, a traditional Korean skirt. Under his arm, he carries a bouquet of silk peonies--a flower once used to ridicule Queen Sunduk (632 - 647). Thus, the presence of the flowers serves both as a nod to Korean history and queers the narrative. Furthermore, his mask is made from discarded Quinceañera fabric and completed with a jewel. In the stroller is “Moran,” a doll who helps to signify the idea of finding one’s own queer family.