Rangsook Yoon

The notion of identity has long been one of the most significant and defining questions in contemporary art. In the context of the United States, we are now approaching artists’ hyphenated American identities with greater nuance, and with good reason. Heart-to-heart conversations about cultural identities and life’s journeys frequently arise during studio visits with artists. It was no exception when I met up with Akiko Kotani (b. 1940) last summer.

Limitations #6 (Detail), 2021, Oil on paper collage, 48 × 48 inches. All images courtesy of the artist. “Even when crippled by arthritis, Titian kept on painting Virgins in that luminous light, as if he’d just heard about them.” “You have to keep on the edge of something, all the time, or the picture dies.” —Willem de Kooning Commitment to their vocation and conviction of its worth move the best painters to work nearly every day, regardless of life’s upheavals.

Left: Bovey Lee, Application to Adjust to Permanent Resident Status II, Cut paper, 23.25 × 17.75 in. 2016. Right: Katrina Bello, Salix (Detail), Charcoal and pastel on paper, 5 × 8 ft. 2021. Photo courtesy of Etienne Frossand. The works of artists Katrina Bello and Bovey Lee highlight key themes about immigration, identity, and family.