Samantha Yun Wall:

The JSMA presents Portland-based artist Samantha Yun Wall's first solo museum exhibition in Oregon with The Space to Grow. This body of work explores the significance of serpent women in folklore and world literature, specifically the Korean goddess Eopsin who takes the form of a black snake and protects the home, and Anyanwu, the shape-shifting healer in Octavia E. Butler’s acclaimed science fiction novel Wild Seed (1980). Wall draws connections between the Korean and African-American women in her own ancestry and global themes of protection, identity formation, and divine female power.

In a 2023 artist statement, Wall explained, “My [recent] drawing practice is informed by my experiences as a Black-Korean immigrant. A longing to rediscover lost cultural histories, revealing narratives that have shaped me, forms the backbone of my research […] Ultimately, my drawings are a reflection of my experiences as a woman navigating a world that often marginalizes and exoticizes those who are perceived as Other.” In 2024, she began using her Korean middle name Yun professionally to reinforce the significance of her Korean heritage. Her work has been widely recognized for its powerful exploration of biracial identity and experiences, with recent inclusion in The Outwin 2025: American Portraiture Today at The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and Wall’s selection as the Seattle Art Museum’s Betty Bowen Award winner in 2024.

The exhibition includes Wall’s Wild Seeds series along with her standalone piece The Space to Grow and a related four-part drawing on Dura-Lar, Becoming. Several of these works debuted in Wall’s first solo museum exhibition, Boren Banner Series: Samantha Wall, at the Frye Museum in 2024. The JSMA is grateful to the artist and special lenders for their loans to the exhibition and to the museum’s Farwest Korean Art Endowment that made possible the acquisition of Wild Seeds No. 4 for JSMA’s permanent collection. Samantha Yun Wall: The Space to Grow was curated by Danielle Knapp, McCosh Curator of American and Regional Art, with an Exhibition and Documentation Support Grant from the Ford Family Foundation.