CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — With performances by South Asian dancers and musicians, the City of Chicago heralded the unveiling of Kin Link, a series of five banners from artist Leonard Suryajaya, who said the installation was centered around the idea home.
Suryajaya said the work, which will adorn the Chicago Riverwalk east of Michigan Avenue for about one year, was meant to honor his ancestors and his native Indonesia, as well as several other groups.
“We are on Potawatomi land,” he said. “Thinking about kin and thinking about where I come from; thinking about the important people in my life.”
Chicago Director of Public Art Jimmy Castillo said the installation is about family and that he hopes passersby “find a little bit of themselves in this installation.”
He said the piece contained “very personal things about family … and fitting in.”
Suryajaya told WBBM that art is his highest form of self expression. He added that artistic expression was also stifled for part of his life.
“I grew up in a place where being Chinese wasn’t accepted,” Suryajaya said.
He said he faced discrimination while growing up in Indonesia. As a child, Suryajaya saw his family members' homes looted, and he eventually fled the country as a 9-year-old for his safety.
“Throughout my childhood, I had to assimilate,” he said. “I had to hide; I had to not speak the language of my ancestors.”
Part of Suryajaya’s inspiration for the larger-than-life banners came from his experience as a queer immigrant. His work intertwines family with kinship — and the knotty relationship between home and diaspora.
“If I can make people think and feel connected with their family, themselves, their friends, and where they come from, I truly believe it’ll be better for all of us,” Suryajaya said.
Suryajaya dedicated the public art exhibition to his mentor, Barbara DeGenevieve. He reached out to DeGenevieve after he realized he couldn’t afford to attend the Art Institute of Chicago, which had recently accepted him. DeGenevieve helped him to receive a full scholarship. Suryajaya said she believed in him when he didn’t believe in himself
“She truly believed in the vision I had to offer,” he said. “She truly believed in me.”
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