Artist. Cultural worker. Community organizer.

Cultural producing is the practice of bringing all of it together.
 

Role: Lead Artist

(2022)

Room for New Worlds is a solo re/search installation of ongoing personal artistic re/search on longing, grieving, and healing of unbecoming and becoming; from where Ka began, who they are now, where they/we go from here, and futures beyond this realm.

Then original installation took place at the Textile Center through April 2022 as part of the McKnight Textile Center Fellow exhibition. The remaining part of the installation is on view at HmongTown Marketplace through October 2022.

Role: Lead Artist and Founder

(2016-2019)

ArtCrop is a social enterprise project to support Hmong artists, farmers, and cultural bearers through a Community Support Agriculture/Art (CSA) and artist residency model. The work has grown and since expanded into Ua Si Creative, a Hmong womxn artist collective co-founded with Christina Vang (La Bang Studio) and Teeko Yang (Teeko + Co).

Role: Artist Organizer - Curated and coordinated artist-led activities that engaged community residents. 

(2012-2013)

ARTIFY was a yearlong project that sought to engage residents through local artists projects sparking conversations, creating and sharing a sense of place on the theme of home; “Home is…” what makes a place feel like home?

The initiative connected arts and local resources in preparation of a new housing development owned by Project for Pride in Living, located on the 1300th block of University Avenue, between Hamline and Syndicate in St. Paul on the Metro Transit Green Line Central Corridor.

The site is home to 108 new units, a place that many now call “home.”

Projects were developed and led by local artists to engage the site and nearby residents and community, organized by Ly. 

Role: Artist Organizer

(2014-2016)

Led key initiatives to establish Little Mekong Cultural and Business District as a destination for visitors and locals alike through special arts & culture events, programming and partnerships.  

Arts & culture were embedded throughout the annual Little Mekong Night Markets and MANIFEST (pop-up arts & culture) along with special events and initiatives like Artists Happy Hours, Little Mekong Plaza, and a renewed Artist Advisory council. Ka also launched the Little Mekong online community group and developed the business plan for an incubator artist space to support creative entrepreneurship development and anchor space.

Role: Artist Organizer

Led team of Artist Organizers to conduct the community design process (architectural design sessions). Ka’s role was to guide the AO team in creating and implementing a series of community events and programming. Over the summer of 2015, the project brought over 100 community members togethers to help reimagine, shape and celebrate the future of the historical theater into architectural renderings.

(2012-2013)

The Victoria Theater Arts Initiative is a diverse group of Frogtown Community Members & Supporters from all walks of life working together to revitalize the historic Victoria Theater building and adjacent neighborhood located in St Paul.  

This body of work brings forward the Hmong clothing silhouette through playful expressions of gender fluidity with athleisure couture That commemorates 10 years of Fresh Traditions Fashion Show x Os.Couture, the platform and label that led to Ka’s artistic practice to blossom.

Hybrid.Couture was the birth of Os.Couture as a fashion label. Merging Hmong French American aestetics. (2007).

Hmong Goddess is a collection inspired by Hmong women and the strength they give to the Hmong culture and community. Each gown was designed featuring a distinct Hmong textile paired with a key characteristic that Hmong women have passed down to our culture and people generation after generation. (2009).

Little Black Shhh… was shot in two parts by two different photographers. (2012).

Collection photographed by Cam Xiong. 

The first series presented herein is named “Little Black Shhh… Part Un: When Femmes Become Bois” shot by Cam Xiong.  This series captures women exploring masculine alter egos.

Hmong Hi-Lo skirt was created as the signature piece from the Little Black Shhh... Collection (F/W2012).

The collection was created to open up conversations about LGBTQ marriage equality amongst the Hmong Asian Pacific Islander (HAPI) community.

The piece was the required challenge garment created for Fresh Traditions IV that year, incorporating five key textiles from traditional wear; black velvet, black satin, blue satin, along with the iconic neon pink and green. 

Little Black Shhh… was shot in two parts by two different photographers. (2012).

Collection photographed by Karen Nou Yang.

The second series of “Little Black Shhh… Part Deux: When We Become Who We Are” was shot by Karen Nou Yang Photography. This captures LGBTQ models and allies exploring queerness and alter egos.

More about Little Black Shhh...