The Hall of Lost Things is a loose collection of ephemera—places, people, and histories that have been overlooked, forgotten, or lost due to many factors-though in the act of collecting them here, the artist asks you to remember them, even if you may not know the details. They are offered in the spirit of the Japanese festival of Obon, which, like Día de los Muertos, is a time when ancestors return. As an Asian American immigrant and artist of color, Kenji C. Liu is interested in reflecting the power and dignity of immigrant communities-very often not represented in art. His paintings can be straightforward or verge into the speculative, expressing narrative through figure, clothing, textile patterns, environment, and cultural symbols. However, there is a reason he has chosen each subject.

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About the Artist:

Born in Japan and raised in New Jersey, Kenji C. Liu is a painter, muralist, educator, and graphic designer with over 25 years of experience. He is also an artist, book designer, and author of four books of poetry, most recently Monsters / Have Been (Alice James Books, 2019), a finalist for the 2020 California and Maine Book Awards for poetry. He has exhibited at Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Pasadena City College's Boone Art Gallery, and Oakland Museum of California. An alumnus of Kundiman, the Djerassi Resident Artist Program, and the Community of Writers, he lives in unceded Tongva land, Los Ángeles.