Flow of Displacement

Migration is not a singular event. It is a condition of being.

This exhibition presents a series of life-size, free-standing figures that move through space as if caught mid-journey. Scattered across the gallery, their presence forms a living map of movement, absence, and arrival. The figures are positioned in conversation with each other and with the walls, evoking routes traveled, borders crossed, and the invisible paths of those who have been displaced.

Each figure is assembled from salvaged objects, cement, seashells, and plant materials with deep environmental and symbolic meaning. These materials are not chosen at random. Like Native American traditions that honor every part of a plant or animal, I use what carries both life and memory. I work with what others discard.

A key material in this work is the thistle, a plant often pushed to the margins. Its thorny exterior may be uninviting, but it holds a soft, necessary beauty inside. The thistle’s purple bloom feeds bees and butterflies. It survives where others don’t. It stands in for the displaced, the unwanted, and the essential.
This exhibition is about recognizing the overlooked, in both people and nature. Each figure speaks to survival and to the strength of those who live at the edge. The materials carry histories of rupture and resilience. They show how lives broken apart by violence, war, and environmental collapse are stitched back together, piece by piece.

At first glance, the figures may seem unfamiliar. But as viewers move closer, the bodies begin to speak. Cracks, awkward forms, and visible wear reveal exhaustion, resilience, and the long labor of migration. They carry the weight of political, personal, and environmental trauma. And still, they stand. They persist.

These are stoic figures. Their posture reflects strength, not submission. They are not victims, but survivors, carrying the past while stepping into an uncertain future. Their journey is not linear. They do not arrive once, but again and again. This work is not about resolution. It is about the ongoing act of becoming.

The Flow of Displacement invites reflection on how we understand belonging and exclusion. It is a meditation on movement, not only of bodies but also of memory, power, and resistance. It asks: Who gets to move? Who is seen? Who is allowed to stay?

This installation is both an act of remembrance and a quiet demand for attention. It honors the strength of communities in flux. It offers no solution. Only presence. And in that presence, it asks for empathy.

Seongmin Yoo is a working artist who has exhibited internationally, with a strong presence in the United States. In the past six months, she has held exhibitions at the Korean Magazine Museum, LP Gallery in Seoul, and Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles. Several additional museum shows are scheduled, including an upcoming installation at the Morris Graves Museum of Art.

Originally from Korea and now based in California, Yoo creates installations that embrace space and speak to social and environmental awareness. As an art activist, she is particularly interested in performance and creating experiences that invite the public into deeper reflection. Her practice is rooted in the belief that art should not only be seen but also felt, and that through it, we can begin to understand each other more fully.