Viki Eagle
Japanese, Sicangu Lakota, Denver
Viki (she/her) is a culturally responsive Native American photographer that has spent a decade photographing for her project Real Life Indian. Using an artistic style of photojournalism and portraiture, Viki seeks to understand and share the intersections of identities and the experience in everyday life for Native American communities. Her most recent project titled “AZN NTVS” focuses on the intersectionality of Native American and Asian mixed identities during the COVID-19 era and the current lived experiences. She is a PhD student at University of California, Los Angeles in the Department of Anthropology, studying Sociocultural Anthropology and American Indian Studies. Connect with Viki on Instagram at: @reallifeindian or @thenativesakura.
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Artists
Painters, muralists, authors, photographers, curators, and performers - Denver’s AAPI artists lift up aspects of their Asian heritage through their art.
Filipino, Korean, Hawaiian, Chinese, Denver
Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, Abbie (she/her) has lived in Colorado since 1983. Last year she worked with the Asian Roundtable of Colorado’s 2020 APIA Census Complete Count initiative. Abbie’s colorful abstract paintings hang in private and corporate collections, and she was named a Top 50 Emerging Artist by Art Business News. Many of her works have strong environmental themes. “I see my paintings taking on lives of their own in viewers’ imaginations,” she explains. “I want them to always discover something new when they look at my paintings,” says Denver artist Abbie Kozik. Connect with Abbie at: abbiekozik.com or @abbie kozik (Instagram).
Ratha Sok Ratha (he/him) is a first generation Cambodian American self taught muralist, entrepreneur and businessman. Born and raised in Denver, Ratha grew up in the Westwood neighborhood. He is passionate about the arts in various forms but specifically painting murals has become his life passion. Along with that, Ratha is also the founder of a Cambodian streetwear brand called “Khmer Ninjas” and a cofounder of “Zuni Studio Denver,” a photography studio. Ratha is thankful for the opportunities the community has helped him Cambodian, experience and is lookDenver ing forward to making positive impacts through his work. Connect with Ratha at: rathasok.com or @_rathasok (Instagram).
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May 2021 | Special Edition
Korean, Denver
Sammy (she/her) is a Denver-based artist that has been promoting Asian American art through curating and operating a contemporary art project space called Collective SML | k in Denver’s Santa Fe Art District area. Born and raised in Seoul, Korea, she moved to Southern California at the age of 16. Her artwork typically questions socio-cultural issues surrounding a sense of belonging, cross-cultural psychology, and immigration. Currently, she is honored and empowered to share an Asian narrative-based art exhibit at Emmanuel Art Gallery in May and a curatorial project on the Anti-Asian sentiment in the US at RedLine Contemporary Art Center in September. Connect with Sammy at: sammy@ studiosmlk.com, studiosmlk.com, @sammy_seungmin_lee (Instagram), or @studiosmlk (Facebook).
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Abbie Kozik
Sammy Seung-min Lee
