Opinion | Why is being an Asian-American woman in the US still a danger? Art exhibition in tribute to Christina Yuna Lee seeks answers

Murdered in February, Christina Yuna Lee was a former employee of New York’s Eli Klein Gallery, which is holding the exhibition that opened on April 13

The exhibiting artists are unified by a shared understanding of ‘what Christina’s experience was in New York,’ says curator Stephanie Mei Huang

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Stephanie Mei Huang (left), artist and curator of the “With Her Voice, Penetrate Earth’s Floor” exhibition at New York’s Eli Klein Gallery in memory of Christina Yuna Lee, ignites risograph joss paper to activate the opening of the exhibition. Photo: Judy Chiu

Published: 7:15pm, 18 Apr 2022Updated: 10:03am, 19 Apr 2022

What permissions does the occasion of grieving unlock?

This unspoken question lingered in the air along with the faint fragrance of incense at the opening reception for “With Her Voice, Penetrate Earth’s Floor” at New York’s Eli Klein Gallery on April 13.

The group exhibition is a tribute to Christina Yuna Lee, a former employee of the gallery who was tragically murdered in her home in Manhattan’s Chinatown in early February.

Lee, who was Korean-American, left her position as an associate director at the gallery about eight years ago but remained on good terms with the artists and clients, according to gallery founder Eli Klein. “I wasn’t always the easiest person to work for, and she was always kind of the buffer between me and everyone else,” Klein says.

A person holds a photo of Christina Yuna Lee as people gather for a rally protesting violence against Asian-Americans at Sara D. Roosevelt Park in New York on February 14, 2022. Photo: AFP

Golden Bridge for Eli Klein (2014) – a painting by Lee that she gave Klein when she left the gallery – hangs above a table in the gallery that serves as an altar.