Is Here There?: Journey of a Diaspora Artist

Diaspora Artist, Asking the Way
"Is there a place for me? Could it be here?"

The author of this book, Professor Jae Won Lee (Michigan State University), has a unique background. Born and raised in Seoul, she studied psychology before moving to the United States, where she majored in sculpture for her BFA and ceramics for her MFA. She is now an established visual artist.

This book offers an honest account of her journey between 2019 and 2023, a time marked by the global pandemic. It weaves together her artistic process, reflections during solitary walks, handwritten notes on her restlessness, studio journals, and personal diaries—charting her experiences of isolation, moving, returning to Korea, and searching once again for a place to belong. Amid the heightened racial hatred and verbal violence in the U.S. during the pandemic, she reached a breaking point and decided to leave. She applied for a Fulbright grant and was given the opportunity to research and teach in Korea for a semester. Yet even in her homeland, which she hoped would feel less like an exile, she could not shake the sense of being a stranger.

The Inborn Longing of Diaspora as Creative Force
Korean diaspora began in the mid-19th century with migration to Manchuria, followed by the early 20th-century wave to Hawaiian sugar plantations, and later the mass emigration to the U.S. in the 1970s—famously captured in the song "When You Go to LA." These early migrations were driven by the pursuit of survival—food and political freedom. In contrast, from the 1980s onward, many left Korea seeking education and opportunity abroad, forming a more voluntary and active diaspora. Though the author belongs to this latter group, one that left in search of opportunity, she does not hide the emotional wounds left by the sudden dislocation from her homeland. Her delicate spirit still bears the scars of that abrupt transition to unfamiliar surroundings. Yet, as the pages turn and her artworks unfold, it becomes clear that these very wounds have become a powerful source of creative energy.

To those who encounter her work, the artist says:
"Even just for a moment, I hope you feel a quiet stirring in your heart. May your restless mind find peace."