LGBTQ+ Column: Summer 2023

Exploring the International and Interracial Adoptee Experience: kimura byol lemoine

In this article, LGBTQ+ Interest Group Co-President Tara Rousseau interviews kimura byol lemoine (ze/zer). Read on to learn more about how kimura-lemoine’s lived experience informs zer work as not only an artist, but also as an activist as an international, interracial adoptee.

In zer website, kimura byol lemoine describes zerself as “an atypic agendered adopted abroad asian artist, activist, and archivist.” Ze is a renowned multidisciplinary artist who has drawn audiences worldwide with zer thought-provoking and introspective works. kimura-lemoine’s art is deeply rooted in zer personal experiences of navigating cultural, social, and gender identities. Through zer various mediums, ze delves into themes of memory, displacement, and the rights and experience of adoptees.

One of the defining features of kimura-lemoine’s work is zer ability to merge traditional artistic techniques with contemporary elements. Ze skillfully combines various mediums, such as calligraphy, paintings, found objects, poems, videos, digital images, and videos to create visually arresting and emotionally charged immersive environments that invite viewers to engage on a sensory level.

Memory and its impact on personal and collective identities are recurring motifs in kimura-lemoine’s artwork. Ze searches through the notion of cultural heritage, examining how it shapes and influences individuals. Drawing from zer own experiences as a third-culture person, kimura-lemoine explores the concept of displacement and the search for belonging. Zer work often evokes a sense of nostalgia, simultaneously inviting introspection and challenging preconceived notions of identity.

kimura-lemoine’s art is inextricably linked to zer activism, which is deeply personal. Ze was adopted from South Korea and raised in Belgium, experiencing firsthand international and interracial adoption and displacement. Ze cofounded Euro-Korean League (EKL), a Korean adoptee association, in 1991 (Belgium), and subsequently a branch in Korea in 1994, the first Korean adoptee organization in Korea. Ze also cofounded Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link in 1998 (South Korea), which helps international adoptees connect with birth families and adjust to living in their birth country. Additionally, ze created Adoptee Cultural Archives (https://adopteeculturalarchives.wordpress.com) to gather artists, activists, and art within the international and/or interracial adoptee community. kimura-lemoine’s work has also sought to connect queer and BIPOC adoptees in online communities.

kimura-lemoine credits zer artistic journey’s role in healing from the trauma of adoption and displacement:

If I didn’t have this outlet… I would be dead long ago. The trauma of abandonment, forced displacement, transnational, transcultural, and trans-racial adoption made me think a lot about being different in many aspects. And expression into what some people would call art helped me to evacuate feelings of frustration, injustice, etc.

kimura-lemoine’s artistic process is nourished from research and collaboration. Ze frequently engages with communities and individuals who have experienced displacement, creating space for their voices to be heard through zer artwork. kimura-lemoine’s immersive installations often incorporate participatory elements, inviting viewers to become active participants in the exploration of identity and memory.

kimura-lemoine’s recent exhibition, Motherland, mounted in Seoul, South Korea, included photographs, installation works, and interviews with children of adoptees, exploring the transgenerational effects of international and interracial adoption. Another recent Montreal, Canada, exhibition, saekdong diaspora, is a personal favorite of the artist:

My work saekdong diaspora was an achievement in that I overcame my fear of nature. It was a challenge to work with natural material and working on a concept that combines my new interest for seeds and installation.

The idea of installation is to take space… space in an environment where I was told not to do so. To be discreet, to be silent, to be transparent.… I dared myself to take a space that was not necessarily expected for me.

A virtual visit of this exhibition can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/639198933

kimura-lemoine’s current work is an examination and contemplation of diasporic gestures forgotten or copied without the knowledge that they belong to another culture, “facing daily gestures that belong to different worlds and making it like our unique being.”

kimura-lemoine has exhibited in numerous galleries and museums worldwide, receiving critical reviews for zer work. Zer art has been celebrated for its ability to elicit emotional responses and prompt deep introspection, transcending cultural boundaries and resonating with audiences. Through zer ongoing projects, kimura-lemoine aims to challenge established narratives and foster dialogue surrounding identity, memory, and the human condition. kimura-lemoine’s work promises to continue to provoke, engage, and inspire audiences around the globe.

[[image "kimura byol lemoine, counting days, 2021. Private collection."]]