This summer, the fellows are collaborating with ICA LA’s Artists in Residence, Saewon Oh and C. Ryu of Hwa Records, to create an exhibition through a series of workshops held at the LA State Historic Park and the Artist in Residence (AIR) studios exploring performance, social practice, and land based learning.

Drawing from Hwa Records’ Korean diasporic roots, Grounding Bodies, Casting Dreams invites AoA fellows, their communities and the general public to participate in the creation of a Dol Top 돌탑 stone tower, which originates from an ancient geomancy tradition for spiritually safeguarding the village. This Dol Top will serve as a community protection spell for the youth of AoA’s dreams for the future.

To participate in Grounding Bodies, Casting Dreams, visitors are invited to bring rocks from their homes or the local landscape to the museum’s front desk. At the end of the exhibition, all rocks will be ceremonially returned to the local Tongva/LA landscape.

Hwa Records is a collective of Korean diasporic artists and healers—Roger Kim, Kayla Tange, Saewon Oh, and C. Ryu—exploring Hwa 화 - which translates and mistranslates to fire, anger, repressed emotions, flower, and vase.

The mission of Hwa Records is to create community space for diasporic Koreans to gather and process stresses from generational displacement. Developed in response to the rise of anti-Asian violence and the lack of cultural frameworks for addressing specific emotional needs, Hwa Records creates a safe space for participants to process and release ancestral Hwa through communal, cathartic, and creative practices.

Hwa Records has performed at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco, Blue Ribbon Garden at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and has received funding from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Studio for Creative Inquiry and more.