Installation view at Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles, 2022
Kim Association, a new project space dedicated to contemporary transnational Asian art, announces its inaugural exhibition: Indigenous Power (Ancestral Wisdom), the first solo presentation in Southeast Asia by Japanese and Puerto Rican (Taino) artist Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo).
The exhibition delves into Kuriki-Olivo’s transnational background, with a particular emphasis on her Puerto Rican (Taino) ancestry. Through installations featuring earth, offerings, stones, and natural sounds, her work channels the spiritual and shamanistic traditions of her Taino island heritage. Everyday objects, intertwined with relics of her personal history, evoke her rich lived experiences while poetically honouring her own father, and those—from marginalized Indigenous, racialized, and trans communities, to which she belongs—forming an evocative tribute to these interconnected identities.
Widely recognized by her pseudonym Puppies Puppies, Kuriki-Olivo’s artistic practice navigates the intersections of art, life, and mortality through an autobiographical lens. Her work was profoundly shaped by a 2010 surgery to remove a life-threatening brain tumor, influencing her exploration of identity, visibility, and personal history.
Private view is welcome by appointment. Sign up HERE.
When: 12 Sep - 7 Dec 2025,
By: Kim Association
