Meet Interdisciplinary Artist Tori Hong
A viewer writes a manifestation as part of artist Tori Hong’s installation work For the Time Beings. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Tori Hong is an artist who explores a variety of media. She leverages everything from drawing, to textiles, to installation, and more in her practice. Hong defines her own work both as being situated within queer theory and praxis and also as being focused on agency and survivance from a diasporic Hmong and Korean perspective. She is a compelling emerging talent with a singular point of view and a new exhibition offers viewers in the Northeast the chance to experience her work first hand.
Hong will mount a participatory installation piece titled For the Time Beings January 9 - 30, 2026 at OPEN, an exhibition venue at 50 Sims Avenue in Providence. The mixed media work includes drawings of ancestors chosen by the artist, sound recording, and an altar where visitors will be invited to write manifestations. The written petitions will be burned in a New Moon Manifestation across the street at The Steel Yard on January 17 at 5pm. An opening reception and Drinks with Artists gathering (co-hosted by the artist and the writer of this profile) will take place Friday, January 9 from 5:30-8pm.
Interdisciplinary artist Tori Hong. Photo courtesy of the artist.
An alumnus of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in Minneapolis, Hong earned her MFA in Illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design. She has received over half a dozen grants and has exhibited her work in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and Minneapolis. For the Time Beings offers New Englanders the opportunity to experience a key work by the artist.
Hong’s multilayered artwork is complex, personal, immersive, and interactive. Her installation on view at OPEN is part drawing, part sculpture, and part performance. Figurative works on paper with scorched edges are paired with a space for viewers to reflect.
Describing the process behind her work, Hong explains, “Through this project, I endeavored to straddle the complex feelings of profound love and heartbreaking loss, so grief and joy became my anchors. The portraits of my chosen ancestors channeled my pain while the meditative tasks of foraging, basket weaving, and hand sewing helped me mend it. Additionally, through burning manifestations and incorporating the ashes into drawings, I was able to physically transmute sorrow into possibility.”
A dynamic piece, For the Time Beings is activated by thoughtful viewer interaction. Derived from a meeting of Hmong and Korean shamanic practices, Hong’s installation explores her own experience while offering space to others as well.
Asked what she hopes viewers experience when interacting with For the Time Beings, Hong answers, “This work is exhibiting in January—the beginning of the Gregorian calendar's new year—because I wanted to provide a public space for visitors to sit with their thoughts, write down their dreams for the future, and read what others wrote too. I've found that the collection of anonymous manifestations help us remember we are more similar than we are different. My hope is that the work brings a sense of calm, connection, and gratitude as visitors set their intentions for 2026.”
Ben Sisto, founder OPEN, is inspired by Hong’s work. He says, “Prior to meeting Tori, I couldn't tell you a thing about the Hmong people. I wasn't aware of the term survivance, and I've never had plans to attend a New Moon Manifestation event. Now, I know a tiny bit about the Hmong people, am aware of Gerald Vizenor—the activist and educator who coined survivance, and also cultural schizophrenia—and will be attending Tori's New Moon event on January 17 at The Steel Yard. This is what good art does; what good artists do. They employ aesthetics to create things—paintings, drawings, sculptures, dances, etc—that serve as invitations to learn more; to experience more. While early on in their career, Tori's got the knack for it and we're happy to host.”
Drawings of ancestors, scorched at the edges, form a central element of Tori Hong’s installation. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Through her installation Hong will activate two spaces in the city’s Valley neighborhood, creating shared experiences via her artwork. The experience of viewing and engaging with Hong’s art promises an exciting start to 2026. She is an artist to know and this show is not to be missed.
Reflecting on what collaborations with OPEN and The Steel Yard mean to her work, Hong says, “My installation emphasizes the importance of collectivity—of remembering where we come from—in the face of historical erasure. This type of soft resistance resonates with the ethos of OPEN and The Steel Yard, and I am humbled to contribute to their work of radical art making and place keeping in Providence.”
Tori Hong’s solo exhibition For the Time Beings will be on view at OPEN at 50 Sims Avenue in Providence January 9 - 30, 2026. The show will open with a Drinks with Artists celebration on Friday, January 9 from 5:30-8pm and there will be a special New Moon Manifestation event at The Steel Yard at 27 Sims Avenue on Saturday, January 17 from 5-6:15pm. Learn more about Tori Hong at nxtoo.art. Learn more about OPEN at www.openforever.org.
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