About the Researchers

(re)Location: The Lao/Korean Acculturation Project was born out of a long friendship between Dr. Joyce Yip Green and artist Helen H. Kim. Joyce was an infant when her family fled Laos just after the end of the Laotian Civil War in 1975. Helen was seven years old when her family immigrated from South Korea in 1982. The ongoing dialogue between these 1.5-generation women about the complexities of their Asian American identities and the legacy of their aging parents led to a mutual desire to claim their histories, honor the elders of their communities, and instill a sense of rootedness for the next generation of Asian Americans.

Joyce Yip Green, PhD, LMFT, ATR-BC

Joyce was an infant when her family left Laos as refugees in 1975 and settled in the Los Angeles area. She earned her PhD in International Psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and is currently an assistant professor at the Loyola Marymount University graduate department of Marital and Family Therapy/Clinical Art Therapy. As a cultural researcher, Joyce has presented nationally and internationally on the practice and application of international psychology, art therapy, and culture and human development. She is also a licensed marriage and family therapist and clinical art therapist who is committed to strengthening the mental health and wellness of individuals, families, and communities. Joyce hopes the (re)Location project honors the stories and experiences of the Lao and Korean elder community.

Helen H. Kim, Artist

Helen was seven-years-old when her family left South Korea in 1981 to settle in the Los Angeles area. This began her personal exploration of identity, culture, and systems, which continues today in her interdisciplinary art practice. Helen creates nonlinear narratives that examine the tension and fluctuation between outsider and insider, private and public, memory and history. She has a particular interest in relational aesthetics, a practice in which the orchestration of a social circumstance and others’ experience of it is itself the artwork. Through (re)Location, Helen seeks to honor the specificity and richness of Lao and Korean American stories while contextualizing their critical place in the larger landscape of American history and experience. Helen holds a BFA from UCLA in Studio Art and is a graphic designer and brand consultant at The Think Farm.