Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sooa Lim. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sooa, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?

I co-founded NaUs Art Collective in response to a gap I saw in the art world. While many platforms showcased Asian artists and curators, few were truly artist- and curator-centered, care-driven, and collaborative in nature. We envisioned a space where diasporic creatives, especially those of Asian and Asian American descent, could not only be represented but also supported in a sustainable and experimental ecosystem.

Building on this vision, I also co-launched the Asian American Art Magazine, designed as an online publishing platform to document, archive, and reflect on underrepresented practices in real time. Rather than waiting for institutional validation, we created our channels, rooted in our lived experiences and grounded in critical thinking, visual storytelling, and peer-based research.

This wasn’t just about visibility but rather about self-authority. I didn’t want to participate in existing systems simply. I wanted to reimagine how artistic labor could be recorded, encouraged, and connected across borders. That mindset of creating infrastructure where none existed continues to shape my work as a curator, researcher, and community builder.

Sooa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Sooa Lim, and I’m a curator and archive researcher working between New York and Seoul. My practice lies at the intersection of memory, design history, and community-building, often with a focus on Asian and Asian American diasporic narratives. I approach curation not just as exhibition-making, but as a way of listening, remembering, and reimagining how we tell stories visually, historically, and collectively.

I entered this field through design and arts management. I studied at the Korea National University of Arts before earning my master’s in History of Design and Curatorial Studies at Parsons School of Design in New York. Early on, I realized that what moved me most were the stories that don’t fit neatly into museum walls or market categories, the ones scattered in personal archives, oral histories, and forgotten folders. That led me to archival research and to projects that ask, whose stories are we preserving, and how?

Currently, I contextualize the legacy of mid-century designer Tommi Parzinger while also leading the archival research based on the SEORO Korean Cultural Network, which documented the cultural resistance of Korean diaspora artists in 1990s New York. These projects inform my curatorial philosophy, which holds that exhibition-making is a form of cultural translation, care, and authorship.

Alongside this, I co-founded the NaUs Art Collective, a platform that supports Asian creatives through experimental and collaborative exhibition formats. We also launched the Asian American Art Magazine, a publishing space that centers underrepresented voices and offers critical reflection on diasporic visual culture. These platforms enable us not only to present our work but also to build systems for sustainable visibility, mutual recognition, and narrative sovereignty.

If there’s one thing I want others to know about my work, I believe curation is not just about what we show, but also about how we choose to show up for others, for the past, and for the possibilities ahead.

I’m most proud when people feel seen through my exhibitions, when archives come alive again, and when connections are made across time and space. Whether it’s with artists, immigrant communities, or young researchers, I aim to create spaces where meaning is not just displayed but co-created.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Yes. At the heart of my creative journey is a commitment to visibility, care, and continuity.

As a curator and archive researcher, I’m particularly drawn to diasporic and fragmented histories that often don’t appear in textbooks or museums, but instead live in photographs, personal ephemera, oral memory, and community practice. My mission is to give form to those fragments and help connect them across generations and geographies.

I believe that curation isn’t just about selecting and displaying, it’s about bridging, translating, and holding space. Whether I’m organizing an exhibition, co-editing the Asian American Art Magazine, or researching under-recognized designers like Tommi Parzinger, I aim to weave together art, history, and lived experience in a way that honors complexity.

Ultimately, my goal is to build curatorial frameworks rooted in ethics, care, and collaboration that can not only preserve the past but also envision more inclusive futures.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

One thing non-creatives often struggle to understand about my journey is that the work is rarely immediate, and it’s almost never visible at first glance. A lot of what I do as a curator and researcher happens in silence, in dusty archives, in long conversations, and in emotional labor that doesn’t make it into the final wall text.

There’s a misconception that creative work is spontaneous or decorative, but in truth, it’s often slow, deeply reflective, and layered with responsibility. For example, when working with community archives like SEORO or curating exhibitions on diasporic narratives, I’m not just putting together a show, I’m making decisions about representation, about what gets remembered and how it is remembered. That’s not something I can rush or treat lightly.

Creativity, for me, is about building systems of care. It’s about finding meaning where others might not look and translating that meaning with empathy and precision. I hope more people, especially outside the creative field, come to see that artistry isn’t always loud or spectacular.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desuah/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sooa-lim/

Image Credits

@sooalim
@newartcity