The Corrine Woodman Gallery I shows work by Juliana Souther about her identity as a Korean adoptee.

Julianna Souther is a recent art graduate from Oregon State University where she examines her identity as a Korean adoptee with an American heritage. She approached racial or ethnic identity in a previous series, but here she concentrates mostly on her own origins.

Because Souther was adopted as a very young child, she experienced her young years as an American with a matching heritage. In this body of work Souther aims to reconstruct her Korean experiences, the ones for which she has no real memory. She says, “The selected artworks dive deep into my subconscious. They grab hold of my re-acquired memories since accepting my international adoptee identity and all the scars and hurt that come with it.”

Souther invites the viewer into a conversation and to experience the adoptee struggles alongside her:

“This selected body of work examines home, family, culture & identity, as I’ve had to re familiarize myself with what these terms mean for an international adoptee. I often find myself imagining my birth family and what I would feel reconnecting with them. To reclaim this missing piece of myself, I documented my thoughts and feelings, as if replaying them from the 3rd person.

”Does the ‘self’ become a memento if the act of recalling makes you your own personal landmark?

Julianna Souther

The Arts Center’s Public Programs are supported by Oregon Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, City of Corvallis Parks & Recreation, and through member, donor and The Arts Center Endowment Fund support.